Department of Nanoengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States.
Centre for Nano Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560012, India.
ACS Nano. 2020 Aug 25;14(8):9423-9439. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.0c05217. Epub 2020 Aug 3.
Richard Feynman's 1959 vision of controlling devices at small scales and swallowing the surgeon has inspired the science-fiction film and has played a crucial role in the rapid development of the microrobotics field. Sixty years later, we are currently witnessing a dramatic progress in this field, with artificial micro- and nanoscale robots moving within confined spaces, down to the cellular level, and performing a wide range of biomedical applications within the cellular interior while addressing the limitations of common passive nanosystems. In this review article, we discuss key recent advances in the field of micro/nanomotors toward important cellular applications. Specifically, we outline the distinct capabilities of nanoscale motors for such cellular applications and illustrate how the active movement of nanomotors leads to distinct advantages of rapid cell penetration, accelerated intracellular sensing, and effective intracellular delivery toward enhanced therapeutic efficiencies. We finalize by discussing the future prospects and key challenges that such micromotor technology face toward implementing practical intracellular applications. By increasing our knowledge of nanomotors' cell entry and of their behavior within the intracellular space, and by successfully addressing key challenges, we expect that next-generation nanomotors will lead to exciting advances toward cell-based diagnostics and therapy.
理查德·费曼(Richard Feynman)在 1959 年提出的在微观尺度上控制设备和吞咽外科医生的设想激发了科幻电影的创作,并在微机器人领域的快速发展中发挥了关键作用。六十年后,我们目前正在见证这一领域的巨大进展,人工微型和纳米机器人在受限空间内移动,达到细胞水平,并在细胞内部执行广泛的生物医学应用,同时解决常见的被动纳米系统的局限性。在这篇综述文章中,我们讨论了微/纳米马达领域的关键最新进展,以及它们在重要细胞应用方面的应用。具体来说,我们概述了纳米马达在这些细胞应用中的独特功能,并说明了纳米马达的主动运动如何带来快速细胞穿透、加速细胞内传感和有效细胞内递药的显著优势,从而提高治疗效率。最后,我们讨论了这种微马达技术在实现实际细胞内应用方面所面临的未来前景和关键挑战。通过增加我们对纳米马达进入细胞的了解,以及它们在细胞内空间中的行为的了解,并成功解决关键挑战,我们预计下一代纳米马达将引领基于细胞的诊断和治疗的令人兴奋的进展。