Nano-enabled delivery of diverse payloads across complex biological barriers

Complex biological barriers are major obstacles for preventing and treating disease. Nanocarriers are designed to overcome such obstacles by enhancing drug delivery through physiochemical barriers and improving therapeutic indices. This review critically examines both biological barriers and nanocarrier payloads for a variety of drug delivery applications. A spectrum of nanocarriers is discussed that have been successfully developed for improving tissue penetration for preventing or treating a range of infectious, inflammatory, and degenerative diseases. Nanocarriers functionalized with active and passive targeting strategies enable the efficient delivery of diverse payloads through complex biological barriers to prevent and treat vector-borne diseases, neuronal disorders, and cancer. [Display omitted]