Recent progress in mitochondria-targeting-based nanotechnology for cancer treatment

Mitochondria play critical roles in the regulation of the proliferation and apoptosis of cancerous cells. Nanosystems for targeted delivery of cargos to mitochondria for cancer treatment have attracted increasing attention in the past few years. This review will summarize the state of the art of design and construction of nanosystems used for mitochondria-targeted delivery. The use of nanotechnology for cancer treatment through various pathways such as energy metabolism interference, reactive oxygen species (ROS) regulation, mitochondrial protein targeting, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) interference, mitophagy inducing, and combination therapy will be discussed. Finally, the major challenges and an outlook in this field will also be provided.