Ferritin-metallodrugs nanocomposites: light and shadow of drugs loading methods

The employment of metal-based compounds in medicine is an ever-changing topic. Following cisplatin discovery, last decades have seen a huge activity designing new metallodrugs with improved pharmacological profiles able to overcome issues related to administration of cisplatin and its derivatives. Despite promising features, metallodrugs entrance into clinical practice is hampered by a series of deficiencies including poor solubility and general toxicity, always coupled with lack of selectivity. Problems associated with the use of conventional drug therapy could be addressed through the development of carrier biomaterials able to ensure drug safe and targeted delivery to specific sites. Proteins have been widely explored for this purpose and ferritin, a protein with a hollow cage structure, represents the ideal candidate. This mini-review aims to summarize the studies investigating the use of ferritin-based formulations for the delivery of metal compounds of medical interest highlighting strength points and weaknesses of this potential nanocarrier.