Bioinspired Nanonetworks for Targeted Cancer Drug Delivery

A biomimicry approach to nanonetworks is proposed here for targeted cancer drug delivery (TDD). The swarm of bioinspired nanomachines utilizes the blood distribution network and chemotaxis to carry drug through the vascular system to the cancer site, recognized by a high concentration of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Our approach is multi-scale and includes processes that occur both within cells and with their neighbors. The proposed bionanonetwork takes advantage of several organic processes, some of which already occur within the human body, such as a plate-like structure similar to those of red blood cells for more environmental contact; a berry fruit architecture for its internal multi-foams architecture; the penetrable structure of cancer cells, tissue, as well as the porous structure of the capillaries for drug penetration; state of glycocalyx for ligand-receptor adhesion; as well as changes in pH state of blood and O 2 release for nanomachine communication. For a more appropriate evaluation, we compare our work with a conventional chemotherapy approach using a mathematical model of cancer under actual experimental parameter settings. Simulation results show the merits of the proposed method in targeted cancer therapy by improving the densities of the relevant cancer cell types and VEGF concentration, while following more organic and natural processes.