Bioactive hybrid nanowires: a new in trend for site-specific drug delivery and targeting

The current progress of modern medicine is based on the resistance of malignant tumors in advanced medical treatments, as well as on the need to develop new therapeutic approaches. In the last few years, numerous studies have focused their attention on the promising use of nanomaterials, such as nanowires, zinc oxide, or mesoporous silica nanoparticles, among others. All these particles are studied in the treatment of cancer and metastasis prevention with the advantage of operating directly at the biomolecular scale. These are innovative designs of magnetic nanomaterials based on a core/shell approach that started to gain prominence due to their versatility to tailor properties of both core and shell and to offer multifunctionality, such as core protection, biofunctionalization platform, toxicity reduction, and enhanced biocompatibility. These nanowire structural improvements allow the development of new bioanalytical chemistry and medical diagnostics advanced tools that will bring about a new age of nanotechnology with widespread use of nanowires for biomedical applications.Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT/ MCT) and from European Funds (PRODER/COMPETE) under the project reference M-ERA-NET/0004/2015-PAIRED, cofinanced by FEDER, under the Partnership Agreement PT2020