Biologically Responsive Nanosystems Targeting Cardiovascular Diseases

Abstract

Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) remain the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. To date, significant progress has been made in developing stimuli-responsive nanosystems that can intrinsically interact with pathological microenvironment to achieve site-specific delivery along with on-demand drug release for precise CVD treatment. Herein, this review summarizes recent advances on smart nanosystems in response to a wide range of biological cues, including pH, enzymes, ROS, shear force, ATP, etc., which can boost drug delivery performance or monitor disease progression in a non-invasive manner. The designs, compositions and main outcomes of the single and multi-responsive nanosystems for drug delivery and/or detection purposes are provided and discussed.