nanotechnology and the treatment of hiv infection纳米技术和艾滋病毒感染的治疗.pdfVIP

Viruses 2012, 4, 488-520; doi:10.3390/v4040488 OPEN ACCESS viruses ISSN 1999-4915 /journal/viruses Review Nanotechnology and the Treatment of HIV Infection Raveen Parboosing 1,*, Glenn E. M. Maguire 2, Patrick Govender 3 and Hendrik G. Kruger 2 1 Department of Virology, National Health Laboratory Service/University of KwaZulu-Natal, c/o Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, 5th Floor Laboratory Building, 800 Bellair Road, Mayville, Durban 4091, South Africa 2 School of Chemistry, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Varsity Drive, Durban 4001, South Africa; E-Mails: Maguireg@ukzn.ac.za (G.E.M. M.); Kruger@ukzn.ac.za (H.G.K.) 3 School of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa; E-Mail: Govenderpt@ukzn.ac.za (P.G.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: parboosingr@ukzn.ac.za; Tel.: +27-31-240-2816; Fax: +27-31-240-2797. Received: 23 February 2012; in revised form: 15 March 2012 / Accepted: 27 March 2012 / Published: 10 April 2012 Abstract: Suboptimal adherence, toxicity, drug resistance and viral reservoirs make the lifelong treatment of HIV infection challenging. The emerging field of nanotechnology may play an important role in addressing these challenges by creating drugs that possess pharmacological advantages arising out of unique phenomena that occur at the “nano” scale. At these dimensions, particles have physicochemical properties that are distinct from those of bulk materia