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Theranostics 2023; 13(14):4781-4801. doi:10.7150/thno.88002 This issue Cite

Review

Advanced hitchhiking nanomaterials for biomedical applications

Ying Wang^1,2, Shao-Kai Sun¹, Yang Liu^3✉, Zhanzhan Zhang^1,2✉

1. School of Medical Imaging, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300203, China.
2. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Retinal Functions and Diseases, Tianjin Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Disease, Eye Institute and School of Optometry, Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital, Tianjin 300384, China.
3. Key Laboratory of Functional Polymer Materials of Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.

✉ Corresponding authors: Yang Liu (yliuedu.cn) and Zhanzhan Zhang (zzzedu.cn).

Abstract

Hitchhiking, a recently developed bio-inspired cargo delivery system, has been harnessed for diverse applications. By leveraging the interactions between nanoparticles and circulatory cells or proteins, hitchhiking enables efficient navigation through the vasculature while evading immune system clearance. Moreover, it allows for targeted delivery of nutrients to tissues, surveillance of the immune system, and pathogen elimination. Various synthetic nanomaterials have been developed to facilitate hitchhiking with circulatory cells or proteins. By combining the advantages of synthetic nanomaterials and circulatory cells or proteins, hitchhiking nanomaterials demonstrate several advantages over conventional vectors, including enhanced circulatory stability and optimized therapeutic efficacy. This review provides an overview of general strategies for hitchhiking, choices of cells and proteins, and recent advances of hitchhiking nanomaterials for biomedical applications.

Keywords: hitchhiking, nanomaterials, circulatory cells, navigation, targeted delivery

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