. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Mar 7.

Published in final edited form as: Chem Soc Rev. 2016 Mar 7;45(5):1457–1501. doi: 10.1039/c5cs00798d

Table 1.

Examples of enzyme-responsive nanomaterials and their applications

Enzyme category	Subgroup	Micro/nano particle	Application	Benefits	Drawbacks/limitations
Hydrolases	Trypsin/gelatinase	Ag NPs Au NPs	The diagnosis and treatment of pancreatitis³⁹³ Enhancing the hydrolysis of bovine serum albumin⁴¹⁹ Quartz crystal microbalance⁴²⁰	Enzymes are natural products with specific reactions The responsiveness of a material to different enzymes Polymeric materials respond to different enzymes with any changes in chemical structures The enzyme-responsive biomolecules are very flexible so that they can be easily adjust to match each enzyme specificity A comprehensive data bank is available on enzyme/substrate pairs	Low resistance of carriers to enzymatic attacks Such requirements as separate surface treatments for polymeric materials The optimum activities of enzymes generally happen in physiological conditions Low stability of polymers in complex biological environment
	Proteases	Au NPs	Establishing an optical biosensing platform to monitor proteinase activity⁴²¹
	Channel-activating proteases (CAPs)	Liposomes	Drug delivery devices³⁸⁹
	Lipases (PLA₂)	Au NPs	High-throughput screening care diagnostics
Oxidoreductase	Glucose oxidase	Chitosan-based capsules Au NPs	Insulin delivery systems³⁶⁶ Biosensor technology for monitoring of blood glucose
	Peroxidase	Au NPs	ELISA⁴²²