铁蛋白是一种内源性蛋白质，由24个亚单位自组装成高度均一的纳米笼状结构。由于在空心内腔具有药物封装能力，并且外表面富含修饰位点，铁蛋白纳米笼被证明具有成为多功能纳米医学平台的巨大潜力。其良好的生物相容性、低毒性和免疫原性、天然肿瘤靶向能力、高稳定性、低成本和大规模生产，使铁蛋白纳米笼在其他纳米载体中脱颖而出。本文综述了基于铁蛋白的纳米医学在疾病诊断、治疗和预防领域的应用。对不同类型的药物装载铁蛋白以及药物装载方法进行了分类。研究了铁蛋白的特异性和非特异性功能修饰策略，然后讨论了铁蛋白在疾病成像、药物传递和疫苗开发中的应用。最后，分析了限制铁蛋白纳米医学临床转化的挑战。© 2023 the author(s), published by De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston.

Ferritin is an endogenous protein which is self-assembled by 24 subunits into a highly uniform nanocage structure. Due to the drug-encapsulating ability in the hollow inner cavity and abundant modification sites on the outer surface, ferritin nanocage has been demonstrated great potential to become a multi-functional nanomedicine platform. Its good biocompatibility, low toxicity and immunogenicity, intrinsic tumor-targeting ability, high stability, low cost and massive production, together make ferritin nanocage stand out from other nanocarriers. In this review, we summarized ferritin-based nanomedicine in field of disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention. The different types of drugs to be loaded in ferritin, as well as drug-loading methods were classified. The strategies for site-specific and non-specific functional modification of ferritin were investigated, then the application of ferritin for disease imaging, drug delivery and vaccine development were discussed. Finally, the challenges restricting the clinical translation of ferritin-based nanomedicines were analyzed.© 2023 the author(s), published by De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston.