Biomolecule-based nanostructures are inherently multifunctional and harbour diverse biological activities, which can be explored for cancer nanomedicine. The supramolecular properties of biomolecules can be precisely programmed for the design of smart drug delivery vehicles, enabling efficient transport in vivo, targeted drug delivery and combinatorial therapy within a single design. In this Review, we discuss biomolecule-based nanostructures, including polysaccharides, nucleic acids, peptides and proteins, and highlight their enormous design space for multifunctional nanomedicines. We identify key challenges in cancer nanomedicine that can be addressed by biomolecule-based nanostructures and survey the distinct biological activities, programmability and in vivo behaviour of biomolecule-based nanostructures. Finally, we discuss challenges in the rational design, characterization and fabrication of biomolecule-based nanostructures, and identify obstacles that need to be overcome to enable clinical translation.

基于生物分子的纳米结构本质上是多功能的，具有多种生物活性，可用于癌症纳米医学。可以对生物分子的超分子特性进行精确编程，以设计智能药物输送载体，从而在单一设计中实现有效的体内运输、靶向药物输送和组合治疗。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了基于生物分子的纳米结构，包括多糖、核酸、肽和蛋白质，并强调了它们在多功能纳米药物方面的巨大设计空间。我们确定了癌症纳米医学中可以通过基于生物分子的纳米结构解决的关键挑战，并调查了基于生物分子的纳米结构的独特生物活性、可编程性和体内行为。最后，