Enzymatic nanomotors with chemotaxis for product-based cancer therapy.

The development of an intelligent nanomotor system holds great promise for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of antitumor therapy. Leveraging the overexpressed substances in the tumor microenvironment as propellants and chemotactic factors for enzyme-powered nanomotors represents a versatile and compelling approach. Herein, a plasma amine oxidase (PAO)-based chemotactic nanomotor system has been successfully developed, with the ability to enzymatically produce toxic acrolein and HO from the upregulated polyamines (PAs) in the tumor microenvironment for active tumor therapy.

Magnetic/Acoustic Dual-Controlled Microrobot Overcoming Oto-Biological Barrier for On-Demand Multidrug Delivery against Hearing Loss.

Multidrug combination therapy in the inner ear faces diverse challenges due to the distinct physicochemical properties of drugs and the difficulties of overcoming the oto-biologic barrier. Although nanomedicine platforms offer potential solutions to multidrug delivery, the access of drugs to the inner ear remains limited. Micro/nanomachines, capable of delivering cargo actively, are promising tools for overcoming bio-barriers.

Reversible opening of the blood-labyrinth barrier by low-pressure pulsed ultrasound and microbubbles for the treatment of inner ear diseases.

Systemic drug administration provides convenience and non-invasive benefits for preventing and treating inner ear diseases. However, the blood-labyrinth barrier (BLB) restricts the transport of drugs to inner ear tissues. Ultrasound can stimulate specific areas and penetrate tissues, with the potential to overcome physiological barriers.

Micromotor-Enabled Active Hydrogen and Tobramycin Delivery for Synergistic Sepsis Therapy.

Sepsis is a highly heterogeneous syndrome normally characterized by bacterial infection and dysregulated systemic inflammatory response that leads to multiple organ failure and death. Single anti-inflammation or anti-infection treatment exhibits limited survival benefit for severe cases. Here a biodegradable tobramycin-loaded magnesium micromotor (Mg-Tob motor) is successfully developed as a potential hydrogen generator and active antibiotic deliverer for synergistic therapy of sepsis.

Bladder microenvironment actuated proteomotors with ammonia amplification for enhanced cancer treatment.

Enzyme-driven micro/nanomotors consuming chemical fuels have attracted lots of attention for biomedical applications. However, motor systems composed by organism-derived organics that maximize the therapeutic efficacy of enzymatic products remain challenging. Herein, swimming proteomotors based on biocompatible urease and human serum albumin are constructed for enhanced antitumor therapy active motion and ammonia amplification.

Self-Propelled Proteomotors with Active Cell-Free mtDNA Clearance for Enhanced Therapy of Sepsis-Associated Acute Lung Injury.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a frequent and serious complication of sepsis with limited therapeutic options. Gaining insights into the inflammatory dysregulation that causes sepsis-associated ALI can help develop new therapeutic strategies. Herein, the crucial role of cell-free mitochondrial DNA (cf-mtDNA) in the regulation of alveolar macrophage activation during sepsis-associated ALI is identified.

Nanorobot-Mediated Synchronized Neuron Activation.

Interactions between active materials lead to collective behavior and even intelligence beyond the capability of individuals. Such behaviors are prevalent in nature and can be observed in animal colonies, providing these species with diverse capacities for communication and cooperation. In artificial systems, however, collective intelligence systems interacting with biological entities remains unexplored.

Magnetically Actuated Biodegradable Nanorobots for Active Immunotherapy.

An efficient and cost-effective therapeutic vaccine is highly desirable for the prevention and treatment of cancer, which helps to strengthen the immune system and activate the T cell immune response. However, initiating such an adaptive immune response efficiently remains challenging, especially the deficient antigen presentation by dendritic cells (DCs) in the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Herein, an efficient and dynamic antigen delivery system based on the magnetically actuated OVA-CaCO -SPIO robots (OCS-robots) is rationally designed for active immunotherapy.

Medical micro- and nanomotors in the body.

Attributed to the miniaturized body size and active mobility, micro- and nanomotors (MNMs) have demonstrated tremendous potential for medical applications. However, from bench to bedside, massive efforts are needed to address critical issues, such as cost-effective fabrication, on-demand integration of multiple functions, biocompatibility, biodegradability, controlled propulsion and navigation. Herein, we summarize the advances of biomedical MNMs reported in the past two decades, with particular emphasis on the design, fabrication, propulsion, navigation, and the abilities of biological barriers penetration, biosensing, diagnosis, minimally invasive surgery and targeted cargo delivery.

Tadpole-like Unimolecular Nanomotor with Sub-100 nm Size Swims in a Tumor Microenvironment Model.

Inspired by the natural motors capable of performing multiple tasks in complex living environments, synthetic nanomotors emerge as a potential vehicle for revolutionizing biomedical processes. Yet current motors suffer from decreased and even completely hindered motion in a complex physiological environment, shadowing the future of this booming field. To address this problem, a unimolecular nanomotor based on molecular bottlebrush (MBB) of sub-100 nm size is reported.

Molecular Bottlebrushes Featuring Brush-on-Brush Architecture.

Molecular bottlebrushes featuring brush-on-brush (BoB) architecture were prepared by combining azide-alkyne click chemistry, ring-opening polymerization (ROP), and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Primary side chains of diblock copolymers with a poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) block and a poly(α-bromo-ε-caprolactone) (P(CL-Br)) block were synthesized by ROP and then grafted onto PCL backbone by the click reaction. Then the secondary side chains of poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) acrylate) (POEGA) were grafted from the P(CL-Br) block by ATRP, yielding an amphiphilic core/shell structure.

Molecular bottlebrush as a unimolecular vehicle with tunable shape for photothermal cancer therapy.

Morphology of delivery nanovehicle plays a significant role in bioavailability of drug. Molecular bottlebrush (MBB)-based unimolecular micelle, with tunable morphologies including sphere, rod, and worm, offers a new aspect to uncover the relationship between morphology and bio-behaviors. In this study, a series of MBB as unimolecular micelle with core-shell structures were tailor-made through controlled/living polymerization and click chemistry, and served as carriers of IR780 photothermal agent.