The passive diffusion performance of nanocarriers results in inefficient drug transport across multiple biological barriers and consequently cancer therapy failure. Here, a magnetically driven amoeba-like nanorobot (amNR) is presented for whole-process active drug transport. The amNR is actively extravasated from blood vessels and penetrated into deep tumor tissue through a magnetically driven deformation effect. Moreover, the acidic microenvironment of deep tumor tissue uncovers the masked targeting ligand of amNR to achieve active tumor cell uptake. Furthermore, the amNR rapidly releases the encapsulated doxorubicin (DOX) after alternating magnetic field application. The amNRs eventually deliver DOX into ≈92.3% of tumor cells and completely delay tumor growth with an inhibition rate of 96.1%. The deformable amNRs, with the assistance of magnetic field application, provide a facile strategy for whole-process active drug transport.
Keywords: active drug transport; deformability; magnetic field application; nanomedicines; tumor penetration.
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