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Liposomes
Liposomes are vesicles constructed of synthetic or natural lipids assembled in a spherical shape of many sizes (tens of nanometers to micrometers). These lipids can either form single layers or bilayers, creating a shell that surrounds an aqueous core. The liposome is a particularly useful tool for drug delivery because of these characteristics. Its organic components make it biocompatible and biodegradable, while its lipid shell and aqueous core allow it to hold both hydrophobic and hydrophilic substances, respectively.

Polymeric Nanoparticles
Polymeric nanoparticles are composed of polymers that are both biocompatible and biodegradable. They are usually assembled using copolymers that contain multiple polymer chains that are hydrophobic or hydrophilic. These copolymers spontaneously assemble in solution to create a hydrophobic core surrounded a hydrophilic shell. Like in liposomes, this presence of regions with different hydrophilicity makes polymeric nanoparticles a useful took for drug delivery. Polymeric nanoparticles can be created without self-assembly as well. An example is particle replication in nonwetting templates (PRINT) that allows customization of composition, size, and shape of the nanoparticle using tiny molds.

Metal Nanoparticles
Metal nanoparticles are usually composed of inert metals such as gold and titanium that form nanoshells, although iron oxide nanoparticles have also become an option. Because this platform is not composed of biocompatible and biodegradable components, there are concerns regarding toxicity and hypersensitivity due to these inorganic materials.

Dendrimers
Dendrimers are typically composed of synthetic or natural amino acids, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates. They are macromolecules that can be bound to therapeutics with relative ease either through conjugation or through hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonds, and chemical linkages in their core cavities. This makes them effective drug carriers.

Nanoparticle Albumin-bound (nab) Technology
Nanoparticle albumin-bound technology utilizes the protein albumin as a carrier for hydrophobic chemotherapy drugs through noncovalent binding. Because albumin is already a natural carrier of hydrophobic particles and is able to transcytose molecules bound to itself, albumin composed nanoparticles have become an effective strategy for the treatment of many diseases in clinical research.