Apoptotic Tumor DNA Activated Nanomotor Chemotaxis

Inspired
by the tactic organisms in Nature that can self-direct
their movement following environmental stimulus gradient, we proposed
a DNase functionalized Janus nanoparticle (JNP) nanomotor system for
the first time, which can be powered by ultralow nM to μM levels
of DNA. The system exhibited interesting chemotactic behavior toward
a DNA richer area, which is physiologically related with many diseases
including tumors. In the presence of the subtle DNA gradient generated
by apoptotic tumor cells, the cargo loaded nanomotors were able to
sense the DNA signal released by the cells and demonstrate directional
motion toward tumor cells. For our system, the subtle DNA gradient
by a small amount (10 μL) of tumor cells is sufficient to induce
the chemotaxis behavior of self-navigating and self-targeting ability
of our nanomotor system, which promises to shed new light for tumor
diagnosis and therapy.