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MINI REVIEW article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Nanobiotechnology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1597387
Nanomaterials Reshape the Pulmonary Mechanical Microenvironment: Novel Therapeutic Strategies for Respiratory Diseases
Provisionally accepted- 1The First Hospital of Putian City, Putian, China
- 2University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui Province, China
- 3Nankai University, Tianjin, China
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Respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and lung cancer, are characterized by high mortality rates and pathological complexity, necessitating breakthroughs beyond the limitations of conventional therapies. This review systematically summarizes the innovative applications of nanomaterials in respiratory medicine through precise modulation of the pulmonary mechanical microenvironment, including alveolar surface tension, extracellular matrix stiffness, and the immune-fibroblast interaction network. The targeted delivery, stimuli-responsiveness, and biomimetic design features of nanomaterials significantly enhance drug accumulation at the lesion site and reverse fibrosis, inflammation, and malignant tumor progression by interfering with mechanical signaling pathways. The study further elucidates their multidimensional advantages in the treatment of COPD, IPF, and lung cancer, such as reduced systemic toxicity and enhanced spatiotemporal controllability. However, clinical translation still faces challenges such as bottlenecks in industrial-scale production, insufficient compatibility of inhalation devices, and controversies regarding long-term biosafety. In the future, the integration of precision medicine, dynamically responsive smart materials, and multi-omics-artificial intelligence technologies will drive the establishment of personalized diagnosis and treatment systems, providing a new paradigm for the active regulation of respiratory diseases. This review provides crucial theoretical support and technical pathways for the clinical translation of nanomaterials and the optimization of therapeutic strategies in respiratory medicine.
Keywords: nanomaterials, Pulmonary mechanical microenvironment, Targeted Drug Delivery, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Smart responsive materials
Received: 21 Mar 2025; Accepted: 18 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Zheng, Cai and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lizhen Chen, The First Hospital of Putian City, Putian, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.