Progress of Folic Acid-Folate Receptor as Drug Carriers in Targeted Drug Delivery System

Targeted drug delivery system is an effective method for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, it has received much attention because of its low side effects and therapeutic efficacy. Folic acid receptor is highly expressed on the surface of most cancer cells, but is low or not expressed on the surface of normal cells, and the ligand folate has a high affinity. Folic acid receptor is attached to drug carriers and can be targeted to cancer cells. This paper introduces folic acid and folate receptors, briefly describes the mechanism of action of folic acid receptor-mediated targeted drug delivery, discusses the progress on four types of folic acid-folate receptor-mediated cancer treatment: folate acid-conjugated magnetic nanoparticles, drug binding of small-molecule folic acid, folic acid receptor-bound protein, and folic acid-conjugated polysialic acid. It also analyzes the favorable points and future development trends of each treatment mechanism.