Conclusions
Progress in nanotechnology, biology, and materials’ chemistry has revealed numerous opportunities for producing bioactive pharmaceutical agents capable of interacting with specific cells or subcellular components and controlling the release of therapeutic payloads. Thus, bioactive materials can be applied in the development of highly functional carriers for drug delivery. It is envisioned that a revolutionary advance in therapeutic nanosystems can be achieved via hybrid constructs composed of synthetic polymer and biological molecules such as proteins, polypeptides, and nucleotides. The design of polymer–protein nanoparticles can be considered as a straightforward tool to integrate a broad spectrum of properties and biofunctions into a single device. Nevertheless, developments of appropriate methodologies to assess the impact of the biological environment on the behavior of engineered hybrid nanoparticles are required. The accumulated knowledge in the fundamental areas such as protein engineering, polymer synthesis, particles manufacturing, medicinal chemistry in combination with the advances in diagnostic tools, and nanotechnology opens the avenue for targeted and personalized medicine.