Research progress on superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery

Superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO) is a novel biomedical nanomaterial with surface effect, small size effect and macroscopic quantum tunneling effect. It has good biocompatibility and superparamagnetism which makes it widely used in targeted therapies. Compared to other nanodrug carriers, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have great potentials in nanodrug filed due to their properties such as intrinsic magnetic, good safety and the availability of surface modifications, etc. These properties provide the basis for their diverse applications in biomedical field. However, researchers are still concerned about the unpredictable toxicity and the changes in cell signal transduction and gene expression of SPIONs. In this paper, the research progress of SPIONs for drug targeting delivery was summarized. Key words: SPIONs; Target therapies; Nanodrug carriers; Toxicity