Manganese Dioxide-Based Nanomaterials for Medical Applications.

Manganese dioxide (MnO) nanomaterials can react with trace hydrogen peroxide (HO) to produce paramagnetic manganese (Mn) and oxygen (O), which can be used for magnetic resonance imaging and alleviate the hypoxic environment of tumors, respectively. MnO nanomaterials also can oxidize glutathione (GSH) to produce oxidized glutathione (GSSG) to break the balance of intracellular redox reactions. As a consequence of the sensitivity of the tumor microenvironment to MnO-based nanomaterials, these materials can be used as multifunctional diagnostic and therapeutic platforms for tumor imaging and treatment. Importantly, when MnO nanomaterials are implanted along with other therapeutics, synergetic tumor therapy can be achieved. In addition to tumor treatment, MnO-based nanomaterials display promising prospects for tissue repair, organ protection, and the treatment of other diseases. Herein, we provide a thorough review of recent progress in the use of MnO-based nanomaterials for biomedical applications, which may be helpful for the design and clinical translation of next-generation MnO nanomaterials.