Biomedical Micro/nanomotors: Driven mechanism, preparation and physiological barriers breakthrough

Abstract

Cancer is one of the major diseases threatening human health. Traditional drug often shows poor delivery and unsatisfactory therapy efficacy, while as a novel treatment modality, targeted therapy brings hope for malignant tumor. Targeted cancer therapy enables drugs to precisely target cancer cells by identifying and targeting molecular markers (such as proteins or gene mutations) specific to cancer cells, while minimizing damage to normal cells. The rapid development of nanotechnology has provided strong support for the development of tumor-specific targeted nanomedicine systems. Micro/nanomotor (MNM) is regarded as a promising candidate for the development of efficient target delivery and therapeutic system, due to their flexible energy input for drug loading and releasing. In the biomedical field, researchers have continuously tried to develop a variety of MNMs for targeted cancer therapy and have made some progress. Herein, we reviewed the development history of MNMs and detailed their kinetic mechanisms. Subsequently, to facilitate the preparation of MNMs, we summarized the synthesis methods of different types of MNMs. Finally, we highlighted the progress of MNMs in drug delivery for regulating tumor immune microenvironment and overcoming physiological barriers.