journal article·2026-07Open access

Emerging Nanoreactors for Precision Disease Treatment: From Principles to Biomedical Applications

Haobo Chen, Ting Wang, Kang Xia, Xin Li, Xikuang Yao, Wei Huang

Small· Volume 22· Issue 37

Abstract

ABSTRACT Inspired by natural cellular compartments, nanoreactors are spatially confined nanostructures that precisely regulate chemical and biological reactions and act as high‐performance catalytic nanocontainers. Multifunctional integration of these systems surmounts the inherent limitations of conventional therapeutic modalities. This review focuses on recent breakthroughs in organic and organic–inorganic hybrid nanoreactors, highlighting three core effects: (1) the spatial confinement effect, which elevates the reactant concentration, accelerates mass transfer, lowers activation energy, modulates electronic states, and boosts reaction rates by orders of magnitude; (2) the synergistic effect of active sites, which enables efficient cascade reactions via spatially segregated or hierarchical catalytic architectures; (3) the stimuli‐responsive effect, which dynamically controls catalysis and cargo release under endogenous (pH, enzymes, ROS) or exogenous (light, temperature) cues. Typical nanoreactors (liposomes, polymeric micelles/vesicles, mesoporous silica, protein cages, and organic–inorganic hybrids) are systematically discussed regarding structural merits and biomedical applications in treating diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), chronic wound healing, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Current challenges and future perspectives are also addressed. Intelligent nanoreactors are expected to offer immense potential for disease diagnosis and therapy.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Advanced Nanomaterials in Catalysis · Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery · Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

State Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (LoFE) Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM) School of Flexible Electronics (Future Technologies) Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech) Nanjing China

School of Pharmaceutical Science Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech) Nanjing China

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China

References (100+)

Show source-provided references
1. 10.1016/j.jconrel.2012.03.02010.1016/j.jconrel.2012.03.020 ↗
2. 10.1002/advs.20251356710.1002/advs.202513567 ↗
3. 10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.11368310.1016/j.jconrel.2025.113683 ↗
4. 10.1002/adhm.20170091710.1002/adhm.201700917 ↗
5. 10.1038/s41556‐023‐01297‐410.1038/s41556‐023‐01297‐4 ↗
6. 10.1038/nchem.245910.1038/nchem.2459 ↗
7. 10.1038/s41580‐019‐0185‐410.1038/s41580‐019‐0185‐4 ↗
8. 10.1002/aoc.683210.1002/aoc.6832 ↗
9. 10.1021/jacs.6b0411510.1021/jacs.6b04115 ↗
10. 10.1039/C8CS00162F10.1039/C8CS00162F ↗
11. 10.1002/mabi.20200042410.1002/mabi.202000424 ↗
12. 10.1039/C6TB01163B10.1039/C6TB01163B ↗
13. 10.1021/acs.biomac.3c0072610.1021/acs.biomac.3c00726 ↗
14. 10.1002/marc.20220090410.1002/marc.202200904 ↗
15. 10.1007/s42114‐024‐01072‐510.1007/s42114‐024‐01072‐5 ↗
16. 10.1002/anie.20250579710.1002/anie.202505797 ↗
17. 10.1021/acs.accounts.3c0073510.1021/acs.accounts.3c00735 ↗
18. 10.1016/j.ccr.2022.21493910.1016/j.ccr.2022.214939 ↗
19. 10.1002/smll.20231033110.1002/smll.202310331 ↗
20. 10.1038/s41467‐025‐59709‐y10.1038/s41467‐025‐59709‐y ↗
21. 10.1021/cr030068810.1021/cr0300688 ↗
22. 10.1002/EXP.2021013410.1002/EXP.20210134 ↗
23. 10.1016/j.addr.2021.11408310.1016/j.addr.2021.114083 ↗
24. 10.1002/anie.20210209710.1002/anie.202102097 ↗
25. 10.7150/thno.4545610.7150/thno.45456 ↗
26. 10.1021/acsnano.5c1651510.1021/acsnano.5c16515 ↗
27. 10.1002/adfm.20200299010.1002/adfm.202002990 ↗
28. 10.1002/adfm.20251290510.1002/adfm.202512905 ↗
29. 10.1016/j.cej.2024.15543610.1016/j.cej.2024.155436 ↗
30. 10.1002/adfm.20242546710.1002/adfm.202425467 ↗
31. 10.1038/s41551‐025‐01385‐w10.1038/s41551‐025‐01385‐w ↗
32. 10.1016/j.mtbio.2025.10185210.1016/j.mtbio.2025.101852 ↗
33. 10.1016/j.cis.2023.10303710.1016/j.cis.2023.103037 ↗
34. 10.1002/advs.20180080110.1002/advs.201800801 ↗
35. 10.1016/j.watres.2023.12095010.1016/j.watres.2023.120950 ↗
36. 10.1002/advs.20250268810.1002/advs.202502688 ↗
37. 10.1016/j.cej.2025.16748710.1016/j.cej.2025.167487 ↗
38. 10.1021/acsnano.2c1207510.1021/acsnano.2c12075 ↗
39. 10.1002/adfm.20221231710.1002/adfm.202212317 ↗
40. 10.1038/s41392‐026‐02598‐410.1038/s41392‐026‐02598‐4 ↗
41. 10.1126/sciadv.adr919610.1126/sciadv.adr9196 ↗
42. 10.1002/smll.20240532110.1002/smll.202405321 ↗
43. 10.1002/adma.20241503010.1002/adma.202415030 ↗
44. 10.1002/smll.20230405810.1002/smll.202304058 ↗
45. 10.1002/anie.20231130910.1002/anie.202311309 ↗
46. 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2025.12310010.1016/j.biomaterials.2025.123100 ↗
47. 10.1016/j.cej.2024.15502010.1016/j.cej.2024.155020 ↗
48. 10.1002/anie.20252209710.1002/anie.202522097 ↗
49. 10.1021/acsnano.2c1147010.1021/acsnano.2c11470 ↗
50. 10.1002/anie.20240563910.1002/anie.202405639 ↗
51. 10.1016/j.addr.2022.11444910.1016/j.addr.2022.114449 ↗
52. 10.1016/j.addr.2022.11461410.1016/j.addr.2022.114614 ↗
53. 10.1038/s44222‐024‐00203‐310.1038/s44222‐024‐00203‐3 ↗
54. 10.1016/j.addr.2020.06.00510.1016/j.addr.2020.06.005 ↗
55. 10.1039/c3cs60059a10.1039/c3cs60059a ↗
56. 10.1002/adfm.20190953910.1002/adfm.201909539 ↗
57. 10.1002/smll.20240035310.1002/smll.202400353 ↗
58. 10.1002/ange.20140851010.1002/ange.201408510 ↗
59. 10.1002/adfm.20230081810.1002/adfm.202300818 ↗
60. 10.1002/adma.20160463410.1002/adma.201604634 ↗
61. 10.1002/advs.20160012210.1002/advs.201600122 ↗
62. 10.1021/acsami.9b1995610.1021/acsami.9b19956 ↗
63. 10.1016/j.jconrel.2021.06.03010.1016/j.jconrel.2021.06.030 ↗
64. 10.1021/acsnano.2c1111210.1021/acsnano.2c11112 ↗
65. 10.1002/anie.20230876110.1002/anie.202308761 ↗
66. 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2025.12317610.1016/j.biomaterials.2025.123176 ↗
67. 10.1016/j.jconrel.2022.08.00110.1016/j.jconrel.2022.08.001 ↗
68. 10.1002/adfm.20221274010.1002/adfm.202212740 ↗
69. 10.1002/adma.20240429610.1002/adma.202404296 ↗
70. 10.1016/j.cis.2021.10248310.1016/j.cis.2021.102483 ↗
71. 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c0156710.1021/acs.nanolett.3c01567 ↗
72. 10.1016/j.nantod.2024.10214710.1016/j.nantod.2024.102147 ↗
73. Enzyme‐Powered Micellar Nanoreactors Enable Tumor‐Specific, Cascade‐Amplified Prodrug Activation for Synergistic Oxidation–Chemo–Immunotherapy
74. 10.1016/j.progpolymsci.2015.05.00110.1016/j.progpolymsci.2015.05.001 ↗
75. 10.1039/C7CS00460E10.1039/C7CS00460E ↗
76. 10.1021/jacs.4c1703310.1021/jacs.4c17033 ↗
77. 10.1021/acs.accounts.3c0069410.1021/acs.accounts.3c00694 ↗
78. 10.1002/anie.20231725110.1002/anie.202317251 ↗
79. 10.1021/acsnano.5c0883210.1021/acsnano.5c08832 ↗
80. 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2024.12266610.1016/j.biomaterials.2024.122666 ↗
81. 10.1002/mabi.20160054210.1002/mabi.201600542 ↗
82. 10.1002/adfm.20250222110.1002/adfm.202502221 ↗
83. 10.1021/acs.accounts.2c0044210.1021/acs.accounts.2c00442 ↗
84. 10.1016/j.jconrel.2020.12.02710.1016/j.jconrel.2020.12.027 ↗
85. 10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c0087710.1021/acs.chemrev.1c00877 ↗
86. 10.1002/smll.20231228610.1002/smll.202312286 ↗
87. 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2022.10805710.1016/j.biotechadv.2022.108057 ↗
88. 10.1002/anie.20250460810.1002/anie.202504608 ↗
89. 10.1016/j.bios.2025.11815610.1016/j.bios.2025.118156 ↗
90. 10.1021/acsnano.5c1155810.1021/acsnano.5c11558 ↗
91. 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.13722810.1016/j.foodchem.2023.137228 ↗
92. 10.1016/j.foodhyd.2021.10700410.1016/j.foodhyd.2021.107004 ↗
93. 10.1039/D2CC04190A10.1039/D2CC04190A ↗
94. 10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b0235810.1021/acs.chemmater.7b02358 ↗
95. 10.1016/j.apsb.2021.03.01910.1016/j.apsb.2021.03.019 ↗
96. 10.1021/cr300014x10.1021/cr300014x ↗
97. 10.1002/adma.20230783910.1002/adma.202307839 ↗
98. 10.1038/s41467‐021‐26655‐410.1038/s41467‐021‐26655‐4 ↗
99. 10.1016/j.ccr.2023.21543410.1016/j.ccr.2023.215434 ↗
100. 10.1002/adma.20170763410.1002/adma.201707634 ↗