Copper nanoparticles and their future in drug delivery and anticancer therapy

Abstract

Copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) have attracted growing attention in nanomedicine owing to their distinctive physicochemical, optical, and biological properties. Their large surface area, tunable size, ease of surface modification, and low cost make them attractive candidates for drug delivery, where they can both improve delivery efficiency and enable stimuli-responsive release. CuNPs also possess intrinsic antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and photothermal activities, further broadening their biomedical utility. In this review, we synthesize recent advances in the synthesis, characterization, surface functionalization, and biomedical application of CuNPs, comparing chemical, physical, and green synthetic routes and their effects on stability, biocompatibility, and therapeutic efficacy. We examine drug loading and controlled release, passive and active tumor targeting, and applications in cancer therapy, antimicrobial treatment, wound healing, gene delivery, and theranostics. Persistent challenges of toxicity, oxidative stress, long-term biocompatibility, and clinical translation are also addressed. Distinct from previous reviews that focus on a single dimension of copper nanotechnology, this review integrates the chemistry, the absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, and toxicity (ADMET) profile, and the full breadth of therapeutic applications of CuNPs within one framework and explicitly links the recently defined mechanism of cuproptosis to the rational design of next-generation multifunctional CuNP platforms for drug and gene delivery.