Enzyme Mimics for Engineered Biomimetic Cascade Nanoreactors: Mechanism, Applications, and Prospects

Multiple enzyme-driven biological catalytic cascades occur in living organisms, guiding highly efficient and selective transformations of substrates. Inspired by the merits of these biological catalytic cascade systems, enormous efforts have been devoted to developing novel cascade catalytic systems to mimic biological cascade catalytic reactions over the past few years. Nanozymes, a class of enzyme mimics, are nanomaterials with enzyme-like catalytic activity. The emergence and development of nanozymes has significantly advanced the development of biomimetic cascade nanoreactors. Currently, biomimetic cascade nanoreactors driven by advanced nanozymes have been widely used and exhibit many advantages such as superior cascade catalytic efficiency and high stability, resulting in significant advancements in biosensing and biomedical applications. The latest advances in understanding the cascade catalytic mechanism of nanozyme-engineered biomimetic cascade catalytic nanoreactors and their progressive applications for biosensing and biomedical applications are comprehensively covered here. First, nanozyme and enzyme/nanozyme-engineered biomimetic cascade catalytic nanoreactors are categorized according to their catalytic mechanism and properties. Then, the biosensing and biomedical applications, including cancer therapy, antibacterial activity, antioxidation, and hyperuricemia therapy of the cascade catalytic systems are covered. The conclusion describes the most important challenges and opportunities remaining in this exciting area of research.