Journal
ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS
Volume 28, Issue 25, Pages -Publisher
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201705086
Keywords
drug delivery; enzymatic catalysis; nanobots; nanomachines; nanomotors
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Funding
- European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Program (FP7)/ERC grant [311529]
- Spanish MINECO [CTQ2015-68879-R, CTQ2015-72471-EXP]
- MINECO
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The use of enzyme catalysis to power micro- and nanomotors exploiting biocompatible fuels has opened new ventures for biomedical applications such as the active transport and delivery of specific drugs to the site of interest. Here, urease-powered nanomotors (nanobots) for doxorubicin (Dox) anticancer drug loading, release, and efficient delivery to cells are presented. These mesoporous silica-based core-shell nanobots are able to self-propel in ionic media, as confirmed by optical tracking and dynamic light scattering analysis. A four-fold increase in drug release is achieved by nanobots after 6 h compared to their passive counterparts. Furthermore, the use of Dox-loaded nanobots presents an enhanced anticancer efficiency toward HeLa cells, which arises from a synergistic effect of the enhanced drug release and the ammonia produced at high concentrations of urea substrate. A higher content of Dox inside HeLa cells is detected after 1, 4, 6, and 24 h incubation with active nanobots compared to passive Dox-loaded nanoparticles. The improvement in drug delivery efficiency achieved by enzyme-powered nanobots may hold potential toward their use in future biomedical applications such as the substrate-triggered release of drugs in target locations.
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