Smart polydopamine-based nanoplatforms for biomedical applications: state-of-art and further perspectives

Thanks to rapid development of nanotechnology, studies have discovered an emerging polymer nanomaterial—polydopamine (PDA) inspired by natural mussels. PDA possesses many outstanding characteristics, including broad light absorption, high reactivity, simple preparation and free radical scavenging. Therefore, the diverse PDA-derived nanoplatforms have been developed for multiple applications, including tumor treatment, imaging, antibacterials and antioxidant. This review aims to outline the advancements of PDA-derived nanomaterials in photothermal therapy (PTT)-assisted tumor therapy, theranostics, antibacterials, antioxidant and delivery of active molecules, including preparation methods, potential polymerization mechanism and various nanostructures of PDA as well. The existing limitations of PDA-derived nanoparticles are also rationally discussed.