Most of the current nanomedicine-based treatments for critical limb ischemia (CLI) only aim at promoting angiogenesis, ignoring the negative influence on the therapeutic effects caused by the complex pathological micro-environment of ischemic tissue. Herein, near-infrared (NIR) light-driven metal ion (Cu²⁺)-loaded polydopamine (PDA) nanomotors (JMPN@Cu²⁺) is designed and prepared. Due to the good antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of PDA, JMPN@Cu²⁺ exhibits excellent biocompatibility and significantly improves the ischemic micro-environment. Additionally, based on superior photothermal conversion effect and jellyfish-like structure, the nanomotors are quickly propelled under NIR laser with low energy intensity to acquire the ability of movement and facilitate intracellular uptake of JMPN@Cu²⁺ by endothelial cells, resulting in the enhanced pro-angiogenic effect of Cu²⁺. Moreover, in vivo experimental findings show that JMPN@Cu²⁺ combined with NIR irradiation can successfully accelerate blood flow recovery and improve muscle repair. Taking these results together, this kind of nanomotor can promote angiogenesis along with ischemic micro-environment amelioration, holding great potential applications for the treatment of limb ischemia.

Yolk@shell mesoporous nanoparticles have received close attention due to their controllable structures and integrated functions. However, most yolk@shell nanosystems lack self-propulsion. Herein, yolk@spiky-shell structured carbon@silica nanomotors are fabricated with near-infrared (NIR) light self-thermophoretic propulsion as lipase nanocarriers for fuel-free triglyceride degradation. The light propulsion accelerates the accumulation of nanomotors on the droplet interface, and the efficient lipase loading further facilitates the rapid degradation of tributyrin droplets. By adjusting the yolk and spiky structure, the obtained semi-yolk@spiky-shell structured nanomotors exhibit the highest capacity of lipase (442 mg/g) and the highest light-driven diffusion coefficient (ca. 55% increase under 2 W/cm² irradiation), thus improving the degradation efficiency of triglyceride (93.1% under NIR light vs. 66.7% without NIR light within 20 min). This work paves the way to rationally design yolk@shell structured nanomotors for diverse applications.