Application of MOF materials as drug delivery systems for cancer therapy and dermal treatment

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have grabbed attention over the past decades, because of their properties and applications in several areas. MOFs are a class of coordination polymers that are formed through metal ion/clusters and organic linkers. A wide range of metal centers and organic linkers can be utilized to construct one-, two-, or three-dimensional structures. They exhibit excellent features including adjustable pore sizes, great surface area, and various functionalities and are applied in several areas, energy storage, CO2 adsorption, catalysis, cosmetics, drug storage and delivery. Because of low cytotoxicity, high biodegradability, and high biocompatibility, MOFs are suitable for biomedical applications. Besides, due to mentioned properties, MOFs can be used in cosmetics including skin disease treatments, controlled release of fragrances, storage and release of caffeine, and determination of parabens in cosmetic creams too. The utilization of suitable carriers to deliver the drugs in the body effectively is one of the main challenges in biomedicine. A large number of the current carriers reveal rapid drug release and poor loading. Since MOFs demonstrate good loading of drug in their pores, they are suitable carriers in drug delivery system. Owing to tunable pores size and large surface area, MOFs are good choice in the cosmetic industry. In the present review, the MOFs applications in drug delivery and cosmetics are considered and evaluated.