2025, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (28): 6101-6109

Application of Janus micro/nanoparticles in biomedicine

Chen Senlin, Zhu Zhou, Wan Qianbing   

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Janus micro/nanoparticles are widely used in the field of tissue engineering, drug delivery, cancer therapy, bioimaging, and sensing due to their shape, structure, and functional anisotropy.
OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the cutting-edge applications of Janus micro/nanoparticles in biomedicine.
METHODS: Relevant literature published between 2010 and 2024 was retrieved from CNKI, WanFang Data, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. Searches were conducted using Chinese search terms “Janus nanoparticle, Janus particle, dual-faced particle, drug delivery, cancer therapy, bioimaging, biosensing, tissue engineering” and English search terms “Janus nanoparticle, Janus particle, drug delivery, cancer therapy, biosensing, bioimaging, tissue engineering.” A total of 69 articles were selected for review after screening, organizing, summarizing, and synthesizing.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Janus micro/nanoparticles can be classified into three major categories based on their basic material properties: organic, inorganic, and organic-inorganic composites. Synthetic strategies consist of shielding, self-assembly, phase separation, microfluidics, and nucleation and growth techniques. Janus micro/nanoparticles exhibit high-efficiency drug delivery through characteristics such as high drug loading, gated release, and autonomous motion. In addition to enhancing traditional cancer treatment modalities (radiation and chemotherapy), Janus micro/nanoparticles can also be applied to emerging cancer treatment methods such as cell immunotherapy, protein drugs, and ferroptosis. Janus micro/nanoparticles serve as contrast agents to enhance bioimaging modalities (CT, MRI, and ultrasound) for high-quality imaging, guiding diagnosis and treatment. Janus micro/nanoparticles are utilized in tissue engineering for delivering growth factors, enhancing mechanical properties of biomaterials, and exhibiting antibacterial effects. Researchers have successfully tailored Janus micro/nanoparticles with desired functionalities by combining different organic polymers and inorganic materials using various synthetic strategies, enabling applications in complex biomedical fields. Despite current advancements, reports on the application of Janus micro/nanoparticles in tissue regeneration, large-scale production, and human clinical trials are relatively limited. Therefore, further research efforts are needed in the development, synthetic strategies, clinical safety assessment, and translation of such materials.

Key words: Janus micro/nanoparticle, tissue engineering, drug delivery, cancer therapy, bioimaging, biosensing, engineered material