Chemotherapeutic Applications of Folate Prodrugs: A Review

Abstract

Several techniques to assisting in the drug design and discovery stages have been developed during the last several decades. The bulk of these techniques aimed to find novel chemical entities that had the greatest significant interaction with the targeted receptors or enzymes while providing the least degree of risk of unwanted interactions. This approach, on the other hand, is time-consuming and expensive, as it requires the screening of thousands of molecules for biological activity, with only one making it to market. The prodrug strategy, in which the active drug molecule is disguised by a promoiety to change its undesirable characteristics, is one of the most appealing and promising methods. The folate receptor (FR)-targeted systems may also open the path for more advanced drug conjugates, especially because this receptor is now being targeted by a variety of technological innovations, including nanoparticles, small molecules, and protein-based technologies, resulting in a wealth of experience in the discipline.