By conjugating a suitable targeting vector to the metal chelate it may be possible to target tissue type, cell type, individual proteins and even specific nucleic acid sequences.
This may be enhanced by combining the NPs with a suitable targeting antibody or peptide to enable them to bind to the tumour cells and prolong the time spent within the tumour.
Furthermore, the targeting of HepaRG hepatoma cells with NPs bearing cyclic RGD was very efficient and much weaker for HeLa and HT29 cell lines confirming that cyclic RGD is a suitable targeting agent for liver cells.
It might be possible to minimize the toxicity and improve therapeutic efficiency by using suitable targeting agents with low uptake in critical normal tissues, and suitable biodistribution.
The choice of a suitable targeting moiety for the intended disease could play important roles in enhancing efficacy and reducing side effects for a nanomedicine.
The development of phage-based recombineering systems which utilize homologous recombination in E. coli have facilitated the generation of suitable targeting vectors (reviewed in [ 3]).
