Magnetic Micro-and Nanoagents for Monitoring Enzymatic Activity in Vivo

Abstract

Enzymes are appealing diagnostic targets because of their centrality in human health and disease. Continuous efforts spanning several decades have yielded methods for magnetically detecting the interactions of enzymes with exogenous molecular substrates. Nevertheless, measuring enzymatic activity in vivo remains challenging due to background noise, insufficient selectivity, and overlapping enzymatic functions. Magnetic micro-and nanoagents are poised to help overcome these issues by offering possible advantages such as site-selective sampling, modular architectures, new forms of magnetic detection, and favorable biocompatibility. Here, we review relevant control and detection strategies and consider examples of magnetic enzyme detection demonstrated with micro-or nanorobotic systems. Most cases have focused on proteolytic enzymes, leaving ample opportunity to expand to other classes of enzymes. Enzyme-responsive magnetic micro-and nanoagents hold promise for lowering barriers of translation and enabling preemptive, point-of-care medical applications.