Ferritins are spherical iron storage proteins within cells that are composed of a combination of 24 subunits of two types, heavy-chain ferritin (HFn) and light-chain ferritin (LFn). They autoassemble naturally into a spherical hollow nanocage with an outer diameter of 12 nm and an interior cavity that is 8 nm in diameter. In recent years, with the constantly emerging safety issues and the concerns about unfavorable uniformity and indefinite in vivo behavior of traditional nanomedicines, the characteristics of native ferritin nanocages, such as the unique nanocage structure, excellent safety profile, and definite in vivo behavior, make ferritin-based formulations uniquely attractive for nanomedicine development. To date, a variety of cargo molecules, including therapeutic drugs (e.g., cisplatin, carboplatin, paclitaxel, curcumin, atropine, quercetin, gefitinib, daunomycin, epirubicin, doxorubicin, etc.), imaging agents (e.g., fluorescence dyes, radioisotopes, and MRI contrast agents), nucleic acids (e.g., siRNA and miRNA), and metal nanoparticles (e.g., Fe₃O₄, CeO₂, AuPd, CuS, CoPt, FeCo, Ag, etc.) have been loaded into the interior cavity of ferritin nanocages for a broad range of biomedical applications from in vitro biosensing to targeted delivery of cargo molecules in living systems with the aid of modified targeting ligands either genetically or chemically. We reported that human HFn could selectively deliver a large amount of cargo into tumors in vivovia transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1)-mediated tumor-cell-specific targeting followed by rapid internalization. By the use of the intrinsic tumor-targeting property and unique nanocage structure of human HFn, a broad variety of cargo-loaded HFn formulations have been developed for biological analysis, imaging diagnosis, and medicine development. In view of the intrinsic tumor-targeting property, unique nanocage structure, lack of immunogenicity, and definite in vivo behavior, human HFn holds promise to promote therapeutic drugs, diagnostic imaging agents, and targeting moieties into multifunctional nanomedicines.

中文翻译：

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铁蛋白：用于生物检测、成像诊断和给药的多功能纳米平台

铁蛋白是细胞内的球形铁储存蛋白，由重链铁蛋白 (HFn) 和轻链铁蛋白 (LFn) 两种类型的 24 个亚基组合而成。它们自然地自动组装成一个球形空心纳米笼，外径为 12 nm，内腔直径为 8 nm。近年来，随着安全问题的不断出现，以及传统纳米药物对均匀性不利和不确定的体内行为的担忧，天然铁蛋白纳米笼的特点，如独特的纳米笼结构、优异的安全性和明确的体内行为，使基于铁蛋白的配方对纳米医学开发具有独特的吸引力。迄今为止，各种货物分子，包括治疗药物（例如顺铂、卡铂、紫杉醇、姜黄素、阿托品、槲皮素、吉非替尼、道诺霉素、表柔比星、阿霉素等）、显像剂（例如荧光染料、放射性同位素和 MRI 造影剂）、核酸（例如siRNA 和 miRNA ），并且金属纳米粒子（例如，Fe ₃ O ₄、CeO ₂、AuPd、CuS、CoPt、FeCo、Ag 等）已被加载到铁蛋白纳米笼的内腔中，用于广泛的体外生物医学应用借助基因或化学修饰的靶向配体，生物传感在生命系统中靶向递送货物分子。我们报告说，人类 HFn 可以通过转铁蛋白受体 1 (TfR1) 介导的肿瘤细胞特异性靶向，然后快速内化，在体内选择性地将大量货物输送到肿瘤中。通过利用人类 HFn 固有的肿瘤靶向特性和独特的纳米笼结构，已经开发出多种载货 HFn 配方，用于生物分析、成像诊断和药物开发。鉴于其固有的肿瘤靶向特性、独特的纳米笼结构、缺乏免疫原性和体内明确的 行为，人类 HFn 有望促进治疗药物、诊断成像剂和靶向部分进入多功能纳米药物。