Research Progress of Cell Membrane Biomimetic Nanoparticles for Tumor Therapy

Abstract

Nanoparticles have unique properties and high design flexibility, which are thought to be safe, site-specific, and efficient drug delivery systems. However, nanoparticles as exogenous materials can provide recognition and be eliminated by the body's immune system, which considerably restricts their applications. To overcome these drawbacks, natural cell membrane coating method has attracted great attention in the field of drug delivery systems, which can prolong nanoparticles blood circulation time and avoiding the capture as well as elimination by the body immune system. Biomimetic nanoparticles via a top-down approach can avoid the laborious group modified engineering and keep the integrity of cell membrane structure and membrane antigens, which can be endowed with unique properties, such as immune escape, longer blood circulation time, targeting delivery and controlling drugs sustain-release. At the present research, erythrocyte membrane, cancer cell membrane, platelet membrane, lymphocyte membrane and hybrid membrane have been successfully coated into the surface of nanoparticles to achieve biological camouflage. Thus, integrating various kinds of cell membranes and nanoparticles into one system, the biomimetic nanoparticles can inherit unique biofunction and drug delivery properties to exhibit tumor targeting-delivery and antitumor outcomes. In this article, we will discuss the prospects and challenges of some basic cell membrane cloaking nanoparticles as a drug delivery system for cancer therapy.

Keywords: Biomimetic nanoparticles; Cell membrane; Tumor therapy.

Fig. 1

a Schematic Illustration of the preparation of the TGZ@eM nanoreactor and erythrocyte membrane cloaked MOF biomimetic nanoreactor starvation-activated colon cancer therapy [19]. Copyright 2018 American Chemical Society. b Schematic illustration of UCNP-based EM-coated dual-targeted biomimetic NPs and dual-targeted feature of the agents facilitating the uptake of the target cancer and their efficient location at mitochondria [24]. Copyright 2015 The Royal Society of Chemistry

Fig. 2

a Illustration of the cancer cell membrane-biomimetic ICNPs nanoparticles for targeting recognition of source cancer cell, dual-modal imaging, and photothermal therapy [35]. Copyright 2016 American Chemical Society. b Schematic illustration of aMMTm preparation and proposed combination therapy of PDT and antiangiogenesis [37]. Copyright 2019 WILEY–VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Fig. 3

a Schematic design of drug-loaded PM-NV for targeting and sequential drug delivery [48]. Copyright 2016 Adv. Mater. b Schematic design of engineering biomimetic nanocarrier for pH-responsive drug delivery and enhanced anti-tumor activity [49]. Copyright 2019 WILEY–VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Fig. 4

Schematic illustration of N₃-labeled T cell membrane-biomimetic nanoparticles with a dual-targeting mechanism for highly efficient photothermal therapy [51]. Copyright 2019 WILEY–VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Fig. 5

Schematic illustration of activated NK cells (NK-92 cells) and NK-92 cell membrane-derived fusogenic liposomes (NKsomes) for targeted tumor therapy [63]. Copyright 2018 Elsevier Ltd