Recent Advances in Nanotechnology for Autophagy Detection

5 years ago

Recent Advances in Nanotechnology for Autophagy Detection

Hao Wang, Yi Wang, Yao-Xin Lin

Autophagy is closely related to various diseases, and is a diagnostic and therapeutic target for some diseases. In recent years, tremendous efforts have been made to develop excellent probes for detection of autophagy. Nanostructure-based probes are interesting and promising approaches for in vivo biological imaging due to their unique structural and functional characteristics, e.g., modulating pharmacokinetics property by biocompatible coatings, multimodality capacity by delivering multiple imaging agents and highly specific targeting by antibody ligands. In this Review, we first introduce recent advancements in the development of nanostructure-based probes for detection of autophagy, including inorganic hybrid nanomaterials and self-assembled peptide polymeric nanoparticles. Meanwhile, a nanoprobe based on a “in vivo self-assembly” strategy is highlighted. The “in vivo self-assembly” endows nanoprobes with higher accumulation, and longer and better signal stability for in vivo detection of autophagy. Furthermore, this novel strategy could be widely used for biomedical imaging/diagnostics and therapeutics, which would attract more attention to this research area. Nanostructure-based probes have recently drawn more attention because of unique structural and functional characteristics as well as promising applications in diagnosis. Autophagy is a diagnostic and therapeutic target for some diseases. State-of-the-art studies on the great potential of nanostructure-based probes for detection of autophagy are presented. Moreover, the “in vivo self-assembly” strategy is highlighted.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1002/smll.201700996