Cell membrane has exhibited great application potential for drug delivery systems (DDSs). However, the complexity of preparation technology seriously limits cell membrane-based DDSs in clinical use.

Recently, researchers led by Prof. WU Zhengyan from the Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with collaborators from the Institute of Health and Medical Technology of HFIPS, and Binzhou Medical University, designed a simple self-assembled biomimetic cytomembrane-based nanoplatform for mitochondrial targeted chemotherapy- and chemodynamic therapy of cancer.

Results have been published in Journal of Nanobiotechnology. 

The nanoplatform, which is naturally derived from pseudomonas geniculate cells, is further used to load a number of drugs capable of inducing chemotherapy and chemodynamic therapy.   

According to the researchers, this nanoplatform shows minimal cytotoxicity and facilitates the internalization of the drug more efficiently. In addition, the nanomedicine accelerates the cascade of reactive oxygen species in cancer cells, combining chemotherapy with chemodynamic therapy to achieve precise tumor therapy.   

This nanoplatform synthesizing nanotechnology provides a new set of opportunities for nanomedicine and biomedical engineering research.

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province, and the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation.

Schematic illustration of building simple self-assembled biomimetic cytomembrane-based nanoplatform. (Image by XIAO Jianmin)