Protein nanoparticles as natural drugs carriers for cancer therapy

Nanoscale drug carriers are useful in improving the bioavilability, targeting delivery, and controlling the release of the loaded drug. Polymers from natural sources possess favourable properties such as adaptability and safety for usage as nanosized drug delivery carriers and as substitutes of synthetic polymers. The use of a biomaterial imparts special biopharmaceutical characteristics to the formulation and changes the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profile of the entrapped medication. Proteins appear as promising raw materials in this approach because of their extensive availability from renewable sources, low cost, and ability to be chemically modified, ligand conjugation and degraded into harmless by-products. Furthermore, protein nanocarriers have several benefits, including high drug-binding capability and specific tumour targeting using different ligands. This review discusses the properties of different protein biopolymers such as albumin, gelatin, zein, gliadin, casein, collagen, elastin and whey protein. The study focuses on the most relevant applications of the protein nanoparticles loading agents with antitumeric effect. Furthermore, the review summarises the primary findings of tumour-targeted protein nanoparticles in vitro and in vivo studies.