Lipophilic NO-Driven Nanomotors as Drug Balloon Coating for the Treatment of Atherosclerosis

Micro/nanomotors in targeted drug delivery: Advances, challenges, and future directions

The therapeutic efficacy of drugs is highly dependent on their successful delivery to the target site. However, achieving targeted drug delivery to diseased areas remains a significant challenge. Current drug delivery systems based on nanocarriers often suffer from inefficiencies due to their lack of intrinsic propulsion and active targeting capabilities. Micro/nanomotors (MNMs), which are miniature machines capable of converting chemical or external energy into mechanical energy, offer a promising solution. Unlike traditional nanoparticles (NPs) that rely on passive diffusion through blood circulation, MNMs exhibit active locomotion, providing a significant advantage in future drug delivery applications. This review primarily focuses on the progress in research of MNMs in the realm of drug delivery. We present a succinct overview of MNMs and subsequently classify them based on their modes of mobility. Then we comprehensively summarize the applications of micro/nanomotor-based drug delivery systems in the treatment of various diseases, including cancer, bacterial infections, cardiovascular diseases, and others. Based on the current research status, we summarize the potential challenges, possible solutions, and prospect several key directions for future studies in active-targeted drug delivery using MNMs. Future research should focus on improving motor delivery efficiency, biosafety measures, productivity, and maneuverability.

Recent Advances in Micro/Nanomotor for the Therapy and Diagnosis of Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease poses a significant global public health threat with a high incidence that can result in severe mortality and disability. The lack of targeted effects from traditional therapeutic drugs on atherosclerosis may cause damage to other organs and tissues, necessitating the need for a more focused approach to address this dilemma. Micro/nanomotors are self-propelled micro/nanoscale devices capable of converting external energy into autonomous movement, which offers advantages in enhancing penetration depth and retention while increasing contact area with abnormal sites, such as atherosclerotic plaque, inflammation, and thrombosis, within blood vessel walls. Recent studies have demonstrated the crucial role micro/nanomotors play in treating atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Hence, this review highlights the recent progress of micro/nanomotor technology in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, including the effective promotion of micro/nanomotors in the circulatory system, overcoming hemorheological barriers, targeting the atherosclerotic plaque microenvironment, and targeting intracellular drug delivery, to facilitate atherosclerotic plaque localization and therapy. Furthermore, we also describe the potential application of micro/nanomotors in the imaging of vulnerable plaque. Finally, we discuss key challenges and prospects for treating atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease while emphasizing the importance of designing individualized management strategies specific to its causes and microenvironmental factors.

Dual-mode-driven nanomotors targeting inflammatory macrophages for the MRI and synergistic treatment of atherosclerosis

With the progress of atherosclerosis (AS), the arterial lumen stenosis and compact plaque structure, the thickening intima and the narrow gaps between endothelial cells significantly limit the penetration efficiency of nanoprobe to plaque, weakening the imaging sensitivity and therapy efficiency. Thus, in this study, a H2O2-NIR dual-mode nanomotor, Gd-doped mesoporous carbon nanoparticles/Pt with rapamycin (RAPA) loading and AntiCD36 modification (Gd-MCNs/Pt-RAPA-AC) was constructed. The asymmetric deposition of Pt on Gd-MCNs catalyzed H2O2 at the inflammatory site to produce O2, which could promote the self-motion of the nanomotor and ease inflammation microenvironment of AS plaque. Near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation promoted the photothermal conversion of Gd-MCNs to generate the thermal propulsion of nanomotor and photothermal ablation of inflammatory macrophages. Meanwhile, the modification of AntiCD36 to bind with inflammatory macrophages further promotes the targeting effect. The released RAPA could inhibit the inflammatory side effects caused by photothermal effects, and promote macrophage autophagy to hinder the development of AS. The dual-mode propulsion nanomotors combining with the synergistic therapy of photothermal treatment, anti-inflammatory and pro-autophagy provided improved theranositc effect of AS.

A Lifetime of Catalytic Micro-/Nanomotors

Microscopic and nanoscopic motors, often referred to as micro-/nanomotors, are autonomous devices capable of converting chemical energy from their surroundings into mechanical motion or forces necessary for propulsion. These devices draw inspiration from natural biomolecular motor proteins, and in recent years, synthetic micro-/nanomotors have attracted significant attention. Among these, catalytic micro-/nanomotors have emerged as a prominent area of research. Despite considerable progress in their design and functionality, several obstacles remain, especially regarding the development of biocompatible materials and fuels, the integration of intelligent control systems, and the translation of these motors into practical applications. Thus, a comprehensive understanding of the current advancements in catalytic micro-/nanomotors is critical. This review aims to provide an in-depth overview of their fabrication techniques, propulsion mechanisms, key influencing factors, control methodologies, and potential applications. Furthermore, we examine their physical and hydrodynamic properties in fluidic environments to optimize propulsion efficiency. Lastly, we evaluate their biosafety and biocompatibility to facilitate their use in biological systems. The review also addresses key challenges and proposes potential solutions to advance their practical deployment.

Oxidative stress disrupts vascular microenvironmental homeostasis affecting the development of atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is primarily an inflammatory reaction of the cardiovascular system caused by endothelial damage, leading to progressive thickening and hardening of the vessel walls, as well as extensive necrosis and fibrosis of the surrounding tissues, the most necessary pathological process causing cardiovascular disease. When the body responds to harmful internal and external stimuli, excess oxygen free radicals are produced causing oxidative stress to occur in cells and tissues. Simultaneously, the activation of inflammatory immunological processes is followed by an elevation in oxygen free radicals, which directly initiates the release of cytokines and chemokines, resulting in a detrimental cycle of vascular homeostasis abnormalities. Oxidative stress contributes to the harm inflicted upon vascular endothelial cells and the decrease in nitric oxide levels. Nitric oxide is crucial for maintaining vascular homeostasis and is implicated in the development of atherosclerosis. This study examines the influence of oxidative stress on the formation of atherosclerosis, which is facilitated by the vascular milieu. It also provides an overview of the pertinent targets and pharmaceutical approaches for treating this condition.

Nanomotors as Therapeutic Agents: Advancing Treatment Strategies for Inflammation-Related Diseases

Inflammation is a physiological response of the body to harmful stimuli such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants, involving a series of cellular and molecular events. It is associated with various diseases including neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, and atherosclerosis, and is a leading cause of global mortality. Key inflammatory factors, such as Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-α), Interleukin-1 (IL-1), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 (MCP-1/CCL2), RANTES (CCL5), and prostaglandins, play central roles in inflammation and disease progression. Traditional treatments such as NSAIDs, steroids, biologic agents, and antioxidants have limitations. Recent advancements in nanomaterials present promising solutions for treating inflammation-related diseases. Unlike nanomaterials that rely on passive targeting and face challenges in precise drug delivery, nanomotors, driven by chemical or optical stimuli, offer a more dynamic approach by actively navigating to inflammation sites, thereby enhancing drug delivery efficiency and therapeutic outcomes. Nanomotors allow for controlled drug release in response to specific environmental changes, such as pH and inflammatory factors, ensuring effective drug concentrations at disease sites. This active targeting capability enables the use of smaller drug doses, which reduces overall drug usage, costs, and potential side effects compared to traditional treatments. By improving precision and efficiency, nanomotors address the limitations of conventional therapies and represent a significant advancement in the treatment of inflammation-related diseases. This review summarizes the latest research on nanomotor-mediated treatment of inflammation-related diseases and discusses the challenges and future directions for optimizing their clinical translation.

Light-Armed Nitric Oxide-Releasing Micromotor In Vivo

The delivery of NO at a high spatiotemporal precision is important but still challenging for existing NO-releasing platforms due to the lack of precise motion control and limited biomedical functions. In this work, we propose an alternative strategy for developing the light-armed nitric oxide-releasing micromotor (LaNorM), in which a main light beam was employed to navigate the microparticle and stimulate NO release and an auxiliary light beam was used to cooperate with the released NO to act as a remotely controlled scalpel for cell separation. Benefiting from the advantages of fully controlled locomotion, photostimulated NO release, and microsurgery ability at the single-cell level, the proposed LaNorM could enable a series of biomedical applications in vivo, including the separation of flowing emboli, selective removal of a specific thrombus, and inhibition of thrombus growth, which may provide new insight into the precise delivery of NO and the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.

Oral mitochondrial transplantation using nanomotors to treat ischaemic heart disease

Mitochondrial transplantation is an important therapeutic strategy for restoring energy supply in patients with ischaemic heart disease (IHD); however, it is limited by the invasiveness of the transplantation method and loss of mitochondrial activity. Here we report successful mitochondrial transplantation by oral administration for IHD therapy. A nitric-oxide-releasing nanomotor is modified on the mitochondria surface to obtain nanomotorized mitochondria with chemotactic targeting ability towards damaged heart tissue due to nanomotor action. The nanomotorized mitochondria are packaged in enteric capsules to protect them from gastric acid erosion. After oral delivery the mitochondria are released in the intestine, where they are quickly absorbed by intestinal cells and secreted into the bloodstream, allowing delivery to the damaged heart tissue. The regulation of disease microenvironment by the nanomotorized mitochondria can not only achieve rapid uptake and high retention of mitochondria by damaged cardiomyocytes but also maintains high activity of the transplanted mitochondria. Furthermore, results from animal models of IHD indicate that the accumulated nanomotorized mitochondria in the damaged heart tissue can regulate cardiac metabolism at the transcriptional level, thus preventing IHD progression. This strategy has the potential to change the therapeutic strategy used to treat IHD.

Recent advances in the development of tumor microenvironment-activatable nanomotors for deep tumor penetration

Cancer represents a significant threat to human health, with the use of traditional chemotherapy drugs being limited by their harsh side effects. Tumor-targeted nanocarriers have emerged as a promising solution to this problem, as they can deliver drugs directly to the tumor site, improving drug effectiveness and reducing adverse effects. However, the efficacy of most nanomedicines is hindered by poor penetration into solid tumors. Nanomotors, capable of converting various forms of energy into mechanical energy for self-propelled movement, offer a potential solution for enhancing drug delivery to deep tumor regions. External force-driven nanomotors, such as those powered by magnetic fields or ultrasound, provide precise control but often necessitate bulky and costly external equipment. Bio-driven nanomotors, propelled by sperm, macrophages, or bacteria, utilize biological molecules for self-propulsion and are well-suited to the physiological environment. However, they are constrained by limited lifespan, inadequate speed, and potential immune responses. To address these issues, nanomotors have been engineered to propel themselves forward by catalyzing intrinsic "fuel" in the tumor microenvironment. This mechanism facilitates their penetration through biological barriers, allowing them to reach deep tumor regions for targeted drug delivery. In this regard, this article provides a review of tumor microenvironment-activatable nanomotors (fueled by hydrogen peroxide, urea, arginine), and discusses their prospects and challenges in clinical translation, aiming to offer new insights for safe, efficient, and precise treatment in cancer therapy.

Stimuli-responsive polymer-based nanosystems for cardiovascular disease theranostics

Stimulus-responsive polymers have found widespread use in biomedicine due to their ability to alter their own structure in response to various stimuli, including internal factors such as pH, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and enzymes, as well as external factors like light. In the context of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), stimulus-response polymers have been extensively employed for the preparation of smart nanocarriers that can deliver therapeutic and diagnostic drugs specifically to inflammatory lesions. Compared with traditional drug delivery systems, stimulus-responsive nanosystems offer higher sensitivity, greater versatility, wider applicability, and enhanced biosafety. Recent research has made significant contributions towards designing stimulus-responsive polymer nanosystems for CVDs diagnosis and treatment. This review summarizes recent advances in this field by classifying stimulus-responsive polymer nanocarriers according to different responsiveness types and describing numerous stimuli relevant to these materials. Additionally, we discuss various applications of stimulus-responsive polymer nanomaterials in CVDs theranostics. We hope that this review will provide valuable insights into optimizing the design of stimulus-response polymers for accelerating their clinical application in diagnosing and treating CVDs.

Engineering Nanoplatforms for Theranostics of Atherosclerotic Plaques

Atherosclerotic plaque formation is considered the primary pathological mechanism underlying atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases, leading to severe cardiovascular events such as stroke, acute coronary syndromes, and even sudden cardiac death. Early detection and timely intervention of plaques are challenging due to the lack of typical symptoms in the initial stages. Therefore, precise early detection and intervention play a crucial role in risk stratification of atherosclerotic plaques and achieving favorable post-interventional outcomes. The continuously advancing nanoplatforms have demonstrated numerous advantages including high signal-to-noise ratio, enhanced bioavailability, and specific targeting capabilities for imaging agents and therapeutic drugs, enabling effective visualization and management of atherosclerotic plaques. Motivated by these superior properties, various noninvasive imaging modalities for early recognition of plaques in the preliminary stage of atherosclerosis are comprehensively summarized. Additionally, several therapeutic strategies are proposed to enhance the efficacy of treating atherosclerotic plaques. Finally, existing challenges and promising prospects for accelerating clinical translation of nanoplatform-based molecular imaging and therapy for atherosclerotic plaques are discussed. In conclusion, this review provides an insightful perspective on the diagnosis and therapy of atherosclerotic plaques.

Organic nanomotors: emerging versatile nanobots

Artificial nanomotors are self-propelled nanometer-scaled machines that are capable of converting external energy into mechanical motion. A significant progress on artificial nanomotors over the last decades has unlocked the potential of carrying out manipulatable transport and cargo delivery missions with enhanced efficiencies owing to their stimulus-responsive autonomous movement in various complex environments, allowing for future advances in a large range of applications. Emergent kinetic systems with programmable energy-converting mechanisms that are capable of powering the nanomotors are attracting increasing attention. This review highlights the most-recent representative examples of synthetic organic nanomotors having self-propelled motion exclusively powered by organic molecule- or their aggregate-based kinetic systems. The stimulus-responsive propulsion mechanism, motion behaviors, and performance in antitumor therapy of organic nanomotors developed so far are illustrated. A future perspective on the development of organic nanomotors is also proposed. With continuous innovation, it is believed that the scope and possible achievements in practical applications of organic nanomotors with diversified organic kinetic systems will expand.

Chemotactic Micro/Nanomotors for Biomedical Applications

In nature, many organisms respond chemotactically to external chemical stimuli in order to extract nutrients or avoid danger. Inspired by this natural chemotaxis, micro/nanomotors with chemotactic properties have been developed and applied to study a variety of disease models. This chemotactic strategy has shown promising results and has attracted the attention of an increasing number of researchers. This paper mainly reviews the construction methods of different types of chemotactic micro/nanomotors, the mechanism of chemotaxis, and the potential applications in biomedicine. First, based on the classification of materials, the construction methods and therapeutic effects of chemotactic micro/nanomotors based on natural cells and synthetic materials in cellular and animal experiments will be elaborated in detail. Second, the mechanism of chemotaxis of micro/nanomotors is elaborated in detail: chemical reaction induced chemotaxis and physical process driven chemotaxis. In particular, the main differences and significant advantages between chemotactic micro/nanomotors and magnetic, electrical and optical micro/nanomotors are described. The applications of chemotactic micro/nanomotors in the biomedical fields in recent years are then summarized, focusing on the mechanism of action and therapeutic effects in cancer and cardiovascular disease. Finally, the authors are looking forward to the future development of chemotactic micro/nanomotors in the biomedical fields.

pH-Sensitive Glucose-Powered Nanomotors for Enhanced Intracellular Drug Delivery and Ferroptosis Efficiency

We propose a glucose-powered Janus nanomotor where two faces are functionalized with glucose oxidase (GOx) and polydopamine-Fe3+ chelates (PDF), respectively. In the glucose fuel solution, the GOx on the one side of these Janus nanomotors catalytically decomposes glucose fuels into gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) to drive them at a speed of 2.67 μm/s. The underlying propulsion mechanism is the glucose-based self-diffusiophoresis owing to the generated local glucose concentration gradient by the enzymatic reaction. Based on the enhanced diffusion motion, such nanomotors with catalytic activity increase the uptake towards cells and subsequently exhibit excellent capabilities for Fe3+ ions delivery and H2 O2 generation for enhancing ferroptosis efficiency for inducing cancer cell death. In particular, the Fe3+ ions are released from nanomotors in a slightly acidic environment, and subsequently generate toxic hydroxyl radicals via Fenton reactions, which accumulation reactive oxygen species (ROS) level (~300 %) and further lipid peroxidation (LPO) strengthened ferroptosis therapy for cancer treatment. The as-developed glucose-powered Janus nanomotor with efficient diffusion and Fe ions delivery capabilities show great promise as a potential in biomedical applications.

Near Infrared Light-Activatable Platelet-Mimicking NIR-II NO Nano-Prodrug for Precise Atherosclerosis Theranostics

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects arteries and is the main cause of cardiovascular disease. Atherosclerotic plaque formation is usually asymptomatic and does not manifest until the occurrence of clinical events. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of atherosclerotic plaques is particularly important. Here, a series of NIR-II fluorescent dyes (RBT-NH) are developed for three photoresponsive NO prodrugs (RBT-NO), which can be controllably triggered by 808 nm laser to release NO and turn on the NIR-II emission in the clinical medicine "therapeutic window". Notably, RBT3-NO is selected for its exhibited high NO releasing efficiency and superior fluorescence signal enhancement. Subsequently, a platelet-mimicking nano-prodrug system (RBT3-NO-PEG@PM) is constructed by DSPE-mPEG5k and platelet membrane (PM) for effectively targeted diagnosis and therapy of atherosclerosis in mice. The results indicate that this platelet-mimicking NO nano-prodrug system can reduce the accumulation of lipids at the sites of atherosclerotic plaques, improve the inflammatory response at the lesion sites, and promote endothelial cell migration, thereby slowing the progression of plaques.

Engineering Immunomodulatory Stents Using Zinc Ion-Lysozyme Nanoparticle Platform for Vascular Remodeling

Rapid endothelialization of cardiovascular materials can enhance the vascular remodeling performance. In this work, we developed a strategy for amyloid-like protein-assembly-mediated interfacial engineering to functionalize a biomimetic nanoparticle coating (BMC). Various groups (e.g., hydroxyl and carboxyl) on the BMC are responsible for chelating Zn2+ ions at the stent interface, similar to the glutathione peroxidase-like enzymes found in vivo. This design could reproduce the release of therapeutic nitric oxide gas (NO) and an aligned microenvironment nearly identical with that of natural vessels. In a rabbit abdominal aorta model, BMC-coated stents promoted vascular healing through rapid endothelialization and the inhibition of intimal hyperplasia in the placement sites at 4, 12, and 24 weeks. Additionally, better anticoagulant activity and immunomodulation in the BMC stents were also confirmed, and vascular healing was mainly dependent on cell signaling through the cyclic guanosine monophosphate-protein kinase G (cGMP-PKG) cascade. Overall, a metal-polypeptide-coated stent was developed on the basis of its detailed molecular mechanism of action in vascular remodeling.

Nanomedicine for Diagnosis and Treatment of Atherosclerosis

With the changing disease spectrum, atherosclerosis has become increasingly prevalent worldwide and the associated diseases have emerged as the leading cause of death. Due to their fascinating physical, chemical, and biological characteristics, nanomaterials are regarded as a promising tool to tackle enormous challenges in medicine. The emerging discipline of nanomedicine has filled a huge application gap in the atherosclerotic field, ushering a new generation of diagnosis and treatment strategies. Herein, based on the essential pathogenic contributors of atherogenesis, as well as the distinct composition/structural characteristics, synthesis strategies, and surface design of nanoplatforms, the three major application branches (nanodiagnosis, nanotherapy, and nanotheranostic) of nanomedicine in atherosclerosis are elaborated. Then, state-of-art studies containing a sequence of representative and significant achievements are summarized in detail with an emphasis on the intrinsic interaction/relationship between nanomedicines and atherosclerosis. Particularly, attention is paid to the biosafety of nanomedicines, which aims to pave the way for future clinical translation of this burgeoning field. Finally, this comprehensive review is concluded by proposing unresolved key scientific issues and sharing the vision and expectation for the future, fully elucidating the closed loop from atherogenesis to the application paradigm of nanomedicines for advancing the early achievement of clinical applications.

Light-driven micro/nanomotors in biomedical applications

Nanotechnology brings hope for targeted drug delivery. However, most current drug delivery systems use passive delivery strategies with limited therapeutic efficiency. Over the past two decades, research on micro/nanomotors (MNMs) has flourished in the biomedical field. Compared with other driven methods, light-driven MNMs have the advantages of being reversible, simple to control, clean, and efficient. Under light irradiation, the MNMs can overcome several barriers in the body and show great potential in the treatment of various diseases, such as tumors, and gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Herein, the classification and mechanism of light-driven MNMs are introduced briefly. Subsequently, the applications of light-driven MNMs in overcoming physiological and pathological barriers in the past five years are highlighted. Finally, the future prospects and challenges of light-driven MNMs are discussed as well. This review will provide inspiration and direction for light-driven MNMs to overcome biological barriers in vivo and promote the clinical application of light-driven MNMs in the biomedical field.

Nature-inspired nanocarriers for improving drug therapy of atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis (AS) has emerged as one of the prevalent arterial vascular diseases characterized by plaque and inflammation, primarily causing disability and mortality globally. Drug therapy remains the main treatment for AS. However, a series of obstacles hinder effective drug delivery. Nature, from natural micro-/nano-structural biological particles like natural cells and extracellular vesicles to the distinctions between the normal and pathological microenvironment, offers compelling solutions for efficient drug delivery. Nature-inspired nanocarriers of synthetic stimulus-responsive materials and natural components, such as lipids, proteins and membrane structures, have emerged as promising candidates for fulfilling drug delivery needs. These nanocarriers offer several advantages, including prolonged blood circulation, targeted plaque delivery, targeted specific cells delivery and controlled drug release at the action site. In this review, we discuss the nature-inspired nanocarriers which leverage the natural properties of cells or the microenvironment to improve atherosclerotic drug therapy. Finally, we provide an overview of the challenges and opportunities of applying these innovative nature-inspired nanocarriers.

Chemotactic NO/H2S Nanomotors Realizing Cardiac Targeting of G-CSF against Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Recombinant granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), with a direct repair effect on injured cardiomyocytes against myocardial infarction ischemia-reperfusion-injury (IRI), displays a poor effect owing to the limited cardiac targeting efficacy. There are almost no reports of nanomaterials that deliver G-CSF to the IRI site. Herein, we propose a way to protect G-CSF by constructing one layer of nitric oxide (NO)/hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) nanomotors on its outside. NO/H₂S nanomotors with specific chemotactic ability to high expression of reactive oxygen species (ROS)/induced nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) at the IRI site can deliver G-CSF to the IRI site efficiently. Meanwhile, superoxide dismutase is covalently bound to the outermost part, reducing ROS at the IRI site through a cascade effect with NO/H₂S nanomotors. The synergistic effect between NO and H₂S on the effective regulation of the IRI microenvironment can not only avoid toxicity caused by excessive concentration of a single gas but also reduce inflammation level and relieve calcium overload, so as to promote G-CSF to play a cardioprotective role.

Nanomotors-loaded microneedle patches for the treatment of bacterial biofilm-related infections of wound

The biofilms formed by bacteria at the wound site can effectively protect the bacteria, which greatly weakens the effect of antibiotics. Herein, a microneedle patch for wound treatment is designed, which can effectively penetrate the biofilms in a physical way because of the penetration ability of the microneedles and the motion behavior of the nanomotors, and deliver bacterial quorum sensing inhibitor luteolin (Le) and nanomotors with multiple antibacterial properties within biofilms. Firstly, the nanomotors-loaded microneedle patches are prepared and characterized. The results of in vitro and in vivo experiments show that the microneedle patches have good biosafety and antibacterial properties. Among them, Le can inhibit the growth of biofilms. Further, under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation, the nanomotors loaded with photosensitizer ICG and nitric oxide (NO) donor L-arginine (L-Arg) can move in the biofilms under the double driving effect of photothermal and NO, and can give full play to the multiple anti-biological infection effects of photothermal therapy (PTT), photodynamic therapy (PDT) and NO, and finally realize the effective removal of biofilms and promote wound healing. The intervention of nanomotor technology has brought about a new therapeutic strategy for bacterial biofilm-related infection of wound.

Reduction of Reactive Oxygen Species Accumulation Using Gadolinium-Doped Ceria for the Alleviation of Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a common cardiovascular disease with increasing morbidity and mortality. The pathogenesis of atherosclerosis is strongly related to endothelial dysfunction, which is induced by severe oxidative stress damage derived from reactive oxygen species (ROS). Thus, ROS plays a critical role in the pathogenesis and progression of atherosclerosis. In this work, we demonstrated that the gadolinium doping of CeO₂ (Gd/CeO₂) nanozymes as effective ROS scavengers delivered high performance for antiatherosclerosis. It was found that the chemical doping of Gd promoted the surface proportion of Ce³⁺ in the nanozymes and thereby enhanced the overall ROS scavenging ability. In vitro and in vivo experiments unambiguously showed that the Gd/CeO₂ nanozymes efficiently scavenged harmful ROS at the cellular and histological levels. Further, Gd/CeO₂ nanozymes were demonstrated to significantly reduce vascular lesions by reducing lipid accumulation in macrophage and decreasing inflammatory factor levels, thereby inhibiting the exacerbation of atherosclerosis. Moreover, Gd/CeO₂ can serve as T₁-weighted magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents, which can generate sufficient contrast to distinguish the location of plaque during living imaging. Through those efforts, Gd/CeO₂ may serve as a potential diagnostic and treatment nanomedicine for the ROS-induced atherosclerosis.

Cascade Catalytically Released Nitric Oxide-Driven Nanomotor with Enhanced Penetration for Antibiofilm

Nanodrugs are becoming increasingly important in the treatment of bacterial infection, but their low penetration ability to bacterial biofilm is still the main challenge hindering their therapeutic effect. Herein, nitric oxide (NO)-driven nanomotor based on L-arginine (L-Arg) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) loaded dendritic mesoporous silica nanoparticles (AG-DMSNs) is fabricated. AG-DMSNs have the characteristics of cascade catalytic reaction, where glucose is first catalyzed by the asymmetrically distributed AuNPs with their glucose oxidase (GOx)- mimic property, which results in unilateral production of hydrogen peroxide (H₂ O₂ ). Then, L-Arg is oxidized by the produced H₂ O₂ to release NO, leading to the self-propelled movement. It is found that the active movement of nanomotor promotes the AG-DMSNs ability to penetrate biofilm, thus achieving good biofilm clearance in vitro. More importantly, AG-DMSNs nanomotor can eliminate the biofilm of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in vivo without causing damage to normal tissues. This nanomotor provides a new platform for the treatment of bacterial infections.