LAUSR

The ultimate goal of cancer therapy is to eliminate the malignant tumors while not damage the normal tissues. In the past decades, many nano-agents have been employed for cancer treatment owing to the unique properties of nanomaterials over traditional molecular drugs. However, the lack of selectivity and unwanted therapeutic outcomes severely limited their therapeutic index. Recently, a series of organelle-targeted nanomaterials that can accumulate into specific organelles (nucleus, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, lysosomes, Golgi apparatus) intra cancer cells have received increasing interest. These rationally designed nano-agents can directly destroy the subcellular structure or effectively deliver drugs into the proper targets, which may further activate certain apoptosis pathways, enabling them to boost the therapeutic efficiency, lower drug dosage, reduce side effects, avoid multidrug resistance, and prevent recurrence. In this review, the design principles, targeting strategies, therapeutic mechanisms, current challenges and potential future directions of organelle-targeted nanomaterials will be introduced.