Chemotactic Zn micromotor for treatment of high blood ammonia-associated hepatic encephalopathy.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40374637.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-59650-0 and PMC identifier 12081644.
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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 Zn<sup>2+</sup> gradient. It can propel towards NH<sub>3</sub>·H<sub>2</sub>O source through the formation of complex ions [Zn(NH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>1</sub>](OH)<sup>+</sup> and [Zn(NH<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>](OH)<sup>+</sup>, 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.
Medical subject headings
- Ammonia
- Hepatic Encephalopathy
- Zinc
- Chemotaxis