Metal-organic frameworks: A novel platform for combined advanced therapies

Abstract Different strategies have been developed to overcome limitations of traditional pharmacological treatments (biodegradation, low specificity, toxicity, side effects). Remarkably, the use of nanoplatforms as Drug Delivery Systems (DDS) to control the dose and the delivery kinetics of active ingredients (AIs) stands out as promising new generation of personalized therapies. Among other proposed materials, Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) offer multiple versatilities for the accommodation of AIs: adaptable structure based on organic ligands and inorganic clusters as building units (BUs), that can be AIs themselves; accessible porosity and large surface areas; availability of functionalization sites; and biodegradability, among others. It is of great importance that MOFs, selected as bioplatforms, are biocompatible and do not exhibit toxicity. Even there are plenty of studies and reviews that explored the use of MOFs as DDS, they often include a single AI. In contrast, we wanted to focus on this review on MOF bioplatforms that exhibit advanced combined therapies. These advanced therapies could be achieved by: i ) the co-encapsulation and simultaneous or sequential release of two or more AIs ( e.g. drugs, metals, gases, biomolecules), ii) effective drug delivery at a target site after external triggered stimulus (near infrared-NIR, magnetic field), iii) monitoring administration towards a specific target (bioimaging), iv) combined AIs delivery and diagnosis (theranosis), and v) detection of different analytes (biosensors). All the promising combined advanced therapies based on MOFs bioplatforms herein reported open the path for the development of more efficient treatments.