Multifunctional nano-sized fullerenes for advanced tumor therapy

There is an increasing demand for the development of functional photosensitizing nano-sized drugs. Fullerene, one of the new carbon molecules, has been considered to be a useful and versatile material for this purpose. Notably, fullerenes are water-insoluble, and they readily aggregate in aqueous solution. Therefore, fullerenes usually have been coupled with water-soluble, biocompatible, biodegradable polymers (e.g., polysaccharides, proteins, and other functional polymers), achieving their improved water-solubility and biocompatible properties. In particular, when fullerenes are paired with tumor-targeting ligands or stimuli-responsive polymers, these conjugates exhibit enhanced tumor recognition ability and improved tumor inhibition. Some groups encapsulated fullerenes into liposomes or nanoemulsions for various pharmaceutical purposes. This review provides an in-depth understanding of fullerene/polymer nanoparticles for effective fullerene-mediated tumor therapy.