Core-shell particles for drug-delivery, bioimaging, sensing, and tissue engineering

Nanoparticles have been widely used for many applications such as catalysis, biomedicine, or self-healing. Core-shell nanoparticles are very promising for biomedical applications due to several features such as possibility of sequence-controlled release of drugs and protection of sensitive payloads from surrounding environment. Core-shell structures incorporating payloads such as drugs, peptides, or hormones have been investigated in pre-clinical studies. The present review describes state of the art techniques for designing core-shell particles for biomedical applications. We also present recent advances in the field of drug, protein/peptide, and gene delivery using different types of core-shell nanoparticles. The function of core-shell particles as contrast agents and labels for bioimaging in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), computed tomography imaging (CT), ultrasound, and optical imaging is highlighted as well as their applications as biosensors.