Current status of micro/nanomotors in drug delivery

Synthetic micro/nanomotors (MNMs) are novel, self-propelled nano or microscale devices that are widely used in drug transport, cell stimulation and isolation, bio-imaging, diagnostic and monitoring, sensing, photocatalysis and environmental remediation. Various preparation methods and propulsion mechanisms make MNMs tailormade nanosystems for the intended purpose or use. As the one of the newest members of nano carriers, MNMs open a new perspective especially for rapid drug transport and gene delivery. Although there exists limited number ofin-vivostudies for drug delivery purposes, existence ofin-vitrosupportive data strongly encourages researchers to move on in this field and benefit from the manoeuvre capability of these novel systems. In this article, we reviewed the preparation and propulsion mechanisms of nanomotors in various fields with special attention to drug delivery systems.

Automated summary

Synthetic micro/nanomotors are novel self-propelled nano or microscale devices widely used in drug transport and gene delivery. Limited in-vivo studies exist, but supportive in-vitro data encourages researchers to further explore the maneuvering capability of these novel systems in drug delivery field.