Chemotactic Zn micromotor for treatment of high blood ammonia-associated hepatic encephalopathy
Abstract Hepatic fibrosis involves hepatocyte damage, causing blood ammonia accumulation, which exacerbates liver pathology and crosses the blood-brain barrier, inducing hepatic encephalopathy. It is meaningful to construct a therapeutic platform for targeted ammonia clearance. In this work, a bioco...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59650-0 |
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| author | Ye Feng Chao Gao Xiuyun Peng Bin Chen Miaomiao Ding Dailing Du Jinghui Rong Qi Lv Daniela A. Wilson Yingfeng Tu Fei Peng |
| author_facet | Ye Feng Chao Gao Xiuyun Peng Bin Chen Miaomiao Ding Dailing Du Jinghui Rong Qi Lv Daniela A. Wilson Yingfeng Tu Fei Peng |
| author_sort | Ye Feng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Hepatic fibrosis involves hepatocyte damage, causing blood ammonia accumulation, which exacerbates liver pathology and crosses the blood-brain barrier, inducing hepatic encephalopathy. It is meaningful to construct a therapeutic platform for targeted ammonia clearance. In this work, a biocompatible water-powered Zn micromotor is constructed as an ammonia chemotaxis platform, which can be actuated by the water splitting reaction and the self-generated Zn2+ gradient. It can propel towards NH3·H2O source through the formation of complex ions [Zn(NH3)1](OH)+ and [Zn(NH3)2](OH)+, representing a generalizable chemotaxis strategy via coordination reaction. In vivo, biomimetic collective behavior allows precise navigation and reduction of the intrahepatic ammonia level, reshaping the pathological microenvironment. This mechanism, operating in a green, zero-waste manner, facilitates integration of these micromotors into the domain of biological regulation. Such environment environment-adaptive platform is favorable for targeted treatment of hepatic fibrosis and hepatic encephalopathy caused by hyperammonemia, which is expected to provide inspiration for future personalized and precision medicine. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e5e0973af2574f02be0970cca0252ac7 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-e5e0973af2574f02be0970cca0252ac72025-08-20T01:51:30ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-05-0116112210.1038/s41467-025-59650-0Chemotactic Zn micromotor for treatment of high blood ammonia-associated hepatic encephalopathyYe Feng0Chao Gao1Xiuyun Peng2Bin Chen3Miaomiao Ding4Dailing Du5Jinghui Rong6Qi Lv7Daniela A. Wilson8Yingfeng Tu9Fei Peng10School of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen UniversityKey Laboratory of Joint Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Liver Disease and Liver Cancer of Lishui, Lishui People’s HospitalSchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen UniversityInstitute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud UniversityGuangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Screening, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southern Medical UniversitySchool of Materials Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen UniversityAbstract Hepatic fibrosis involves hepatocyte damage, causing blood ammonia accumulation, which exacerbates liver pathology and crosses the blood-brain barrier, inducing hepatic encephalopathy. It is meaningful to construct a therapeutic platform for targeted ammonia clearance. In this work, a biocompatible water-powered Zn micromotor is constructed as an ammonia chemotaxis platform, which can be actuated by the water splitting reaction and the self-generated Zn2+ gradient. It can propel towards NH3·H2O source through the formation of complex ions [Zn(NH3)1](OH)+ and [Zn(NH3)2](OH)+, representing a generalizable chemotaxis strategy via coordination reaction. In vivo, biomimetic collective behavior allows precise navigation and reduction of the intrahepatic ammonia level, reshaping the pathological microenvironment. This mechanism, operating in a green, zero-waste manner, facilitates integration of these micromotors into the domain of biological regulation. Such environment environment-adaptive platform is favorable for targeted treatment of hepatic fibrosis and hepatic encephalopathy caused by hyperammonemia, which is expected to provide inspiration for future personalized and precision medicine.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59650-0 |
| spellingShingle | Ye Feng Chao Gao Xiuyun Peng Bin Chen Miaomiao Ding Dailing Du Jinghui Rong Qi Lv Daniela A. Wilson Yingfeng Tu Fei Peng Chemotactic Zn micromotor for treatment of high blood ammonia-associated hepatic encephalopathy Nature Communications |
| title | Chemotactic Zn micromotor for treatment of high blood ammonia-associated hepatic encephalopathy |
| title_full | Chemotactic Zn micromotor for treatment of high blood ammonia-associated hepatic encephalopathy |
| title_fullStr | Chemotactic Zn micromotor for treatment of high blood ammonia-associated hepatic encephalopathy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chemotactic Zn micromotor for treatment of high blood ammonia-associated hepatic encephalopathy |
| title_short | Chemotactic Zn micromotor for treatment of high blood ammonia-associated hepatic encephalopathy |
| title_sort | chemotactic zn micromotor for treatment of high blood ammonia associated hepatic encephalopathy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59650-0 |
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