Nanomotor-based H₂S donor with mitochondrial targeting function for treatment of Parkinson's disease

Reduction of endogenous hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is considered to have an important impact on the progress of Parkinson's disease (PD), thus exogenous H₂S supplementation is expected to become one of the key means to treat PD. However, at present, it is difficult for H₂S donors to effectively penetrate the blood brain barrier (BBB), selectively release H₂S in brain, and effectively target the mitochondria of neuron cells. Herein, we report a kind of nanomotor-based H₂S donor, which is obtained by free radical polymerization reaction between l-cysteine derivative modified-polyethylene glycol (PEG-Cys) and 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC). This kind of H₂S donor can not only effectively break through BBB, but also be specifically catalyzed by cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) in neurons of PD site in brain and 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (3-MST) in mitochondria to produce H₂S, endowing it with chemotaxis/motion ability. Moreover, the unique chemotaxis effect of nanomotor can realize the purpose of precisely targeting brain and the mitochondria of damaged neuron cytopathic diseases. This kind of nanomotor-based H₂S donor is expected to enrich the current types of H₂S donors and provide new ideas for the treatment of PD.