Role of Silk-Based Nanocarriers System in Drug and Gene Delivery

Designing and developing effective drug delivery systems is important for medicine and healthcare. Nanocarrier-based drug delivery systems are vital since they offer a novel potential to overcome the limitations of conventional delivery systems. A naturally occurring protein polymer known as silk fibroin (SF) has several distinctive properties like excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability and low immunogenicity, making it a good candidate for use in various drug delivery systems that can administer several therapeutic agents. It has been demonstrated that SF matrices effectively deliver small-molecule drugs (e.g., anticancer drugs), biomolecules, and gene drugs. This chapter summarizes the chemical structure and properties of SF. It also highlights the preparation methods of silk-based nanoparticles. In addition, the application of silk-based nanoparticles for the delivery of various therapeutic agents is thoroughly discussed in this chapter.