Magnesium-based micromotors for enhanced active and synergistic hydrogen chemotherapy

Abstract Hydrogen therapy has recently emerged as an attractive approach for combating major diseases including cancer, diabetes, stroke and Parkinson's disease. Herein, we ingeniously fabricated a fully biodegradable Magnesium (Mg) based micromotor for the active hydrogen and chemotherapeutics delivery, and firstly proposed the concept of a self-propelled micromotor platform used for cancer active hydrogen-chemotherapy. By consuming water, the micromotor generates sufficient hydrogen in-situ, which is not only propellant for motion, but also active component for hydrogen therapy. The active motion of micromotors with a speed up to 57 ± 19 μm•s−1 leads to enhanced diffusion of produced hydrogen that allows for higher extracellular and intracellular reducibility. Compared with the non-motor control, the micromotor loaded with doxorubicin improves the chemotherapy efficacy significantly by 2.4 times for 4T1 tumor cells with a concentration as low as 100 μg•mL−1. These results indicate that the Mg-based micromotors can act as self-propelled carriers for enhanced intracellular hydrogen and cancer chemotherapy. Taking advantage of the locally hydrogen generation and the active moving capabilities, the facilely engineered Mg micromotor provides great promise for cancer synergistic hydrogen chemotherapy.