Metal-Based Nanoparticles Reprogram Mitochondrial Fate for Cancer Therapy: Mechanisms, Crosstalk, and Translational Perspectives.

Authors

Haiyan Zheng, Yanfang Zhang, Jian Ruan, Bingzhu Zheng, Renren Deng, Chanqi Ye

Published in

Acta biomaterialia. Nov 10, 2026. Epub Nov 10, 2026.

Abstract

Mitochondria play a crucial role in the energy metabolism, redox balance, and cell death regulation of tumor cells, making them potential targets for precise cancer treatment. Metal-based nanoparticles (MNPs) can precisely target mitochondria and directly interfere with mitochondrial functions, providing a unique opportunity for mitochondrial-directed tumor therapy. However, there is no comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms for interfering with mitochondrial functions, and questions regarding the cross-regulation of mitochondrial functions and the feasibility of clinical translation have not been answered. This review proposes a unified conceptual framework for MNP-based mitochondrial targeting, focusing on the crosstalk and synergistic interactions among ferroptosis, cuproptosis, metabolic intervention, mitophagy regulation, and immune activation. We also discuss current clinical translation challenges and the future development prospects of MNPs treatment. This review provides an important reference for the innovative design of mitochondrial-targeted nanomedicines for precise tumor treatment. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Current research on metal-based nanoparticles-mediated mitochondrial therapy is developing rapidly, and the research directions are rather scattered. Previous reviews have often focused on individual mitochondria-related therapeutic mechanism such as ferroptosis, cuproptosis, metabolic intervention, mitochondrial autophagy regulation, or immune activation. However, the mitochondrial regulatory system operates as an interconnected network in which various mechanisms interact and influence one another. Hence, we integrate these mechanisms under a unified conceptual framework and highlight their crosstalk and synergistic interaction. We further discuss the current clinical translation challenges and the future development prospects of MNPs treatment. This review provides an important reference for the innovative design of mitochondrial-targeted nanomedicines for precise tumor treatment.

PMID:
43009079
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 11 Nov 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.