A platform for nitric oxide delivery

Abstract

Nitric oxide (NO) is one of the structurally smallest pharmaceutical molecules, which shows great potential as an anti-restenosis, wound healing, anticancer, and antibacterial agent. To date, while most of the studies have focused mainly on demonstrating the versatility of the NO-releasing materials, little effort has been made on developing successful NO-delivery strategies for advancing NO-mediated therapy. Thus, the quest for a rationally designed NO-delivery system is becoming one of the important issues in the biomedical applications of NO. This feature article discusses the overall research trends in the NOdelivery, focusing mainly on the various particle-type and coating platforms. The objective of this article is not only to highlight the fundamental principle and challenges associated with NO-delivery, but also to provide insight for the further development of novel NO-delivery platforms for clinical applications in the near future.