Spherical particles such as liposomes and microspheres are the most common and extensively applied drug vehicles. However, researchers have come to realize the superiority of nonspherical nanoparticles. Actually, in human bodies red blood cells, gut biotics and many well-known pathogens have distinct shapes. It can be reasonably inferred that particle shape plays a pivotal part in human bodies. In this review, we summarize the recent studies about the effect of shape on delivery processes such as cellular uptake, tissue penetration and biodistribution. The underlying mechanisms that are relevant to the phenomena revealed, owing to experimental and computational modern techniques, will be addressed, and we shall provide future perspectives on particle design to improve the efficacy of drug delivery.

球形颗粒（如脂质体和微球）是最常见且应用最广泛的药物媒介。但是，研究人员已经意识到非球形纳米颗粒的优越性。实际上，在人体中，红细胞，肠道生物和许多众所周知的病原体具有截然不同的形状。可以合理地推断出颗粒形状在人体中起着举足轻重的作用。在这篇综述中，我们总结了有关形状对递送过程（如细胞摄取，组织渗透和生物分布）影响的最新研究。由于实验和计算的现代技术，与所揭示的现象相关的潜在机制将得到解决，我们将在粒子设计方面提供未来的观点，以提高药物输送的效率。