Nanoparticle Induced Oxidative Stress in Cancer Cells: Adding New Pieces to an Incomplete Jigsaw Puzzle

Nanotechnology is an emerging field with many promising applications in drug delivery systems. Because ofoutstanding developments in this field, rapidly increasing research is directed to the development of nanocarriersthat may enhance the availability of drugs to the target sites. Substantial fraction of information has been addedinto the existing scientific literature focusing on the fact that nanoparticles usually generate reactive oxygenspecies to a greater extent than micro-sized particles. It is worth mentioning that oxidative stress regulates anarray of cell signaling cascades that resulted in cancer cell damage. Accumulating experimental evidence overthe years has shown that wide-ranging biological mechanisms are triggered by these NPs in cultured cells dueto the unique properties of engineered nanoparticles. In this review, we have attempted to provide an overviewof the signaling cascades that are activated by oxidative stress in cancer cells in response to different kinds ofnanomaterials, including quantum dots, metallic and polymeric nanoparticles.