Bioactive nanomaterials for ion-interference therapy

Abstract

Ions with biological actions have been exploited to perform a wide range of tasks, including antitumor therapy, termed ion-interference therapy (IIT). However, single ions or ion-containing small molecules possess serious limitations for in vivo therapeutic applications due to their short circulation duration, weak discrimination between healthy and tumor tissues, and dose-limiting systemic toxicity. Bioactive nanomaterials, not only successful targeting tumors but also sufficient generation/release of active species for cell death induction, have attracted enormous interest in IIT due to their potential to tackle the challenges, and are largely the focus of this review.