Metal–Organic Frameworks in Medicine: Design Principles, Applications, and Translational Outlook

Abstract

Omar Yaghi's groundbreaking contributions to the conceptualization and synthesis of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), acknowledged by the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, have significantly influenced contemporary materials science. In recent years, MOFs have attracted considerable attention in chemical and materials research due to their remarkable structural tunability and functional versatility. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) integrate crystalline porosity, modular chemistry, and stimuli-responsive degradation into a versatile platform for drug delivery, imaging, biosensing, and combination oncology. They offer high payload capacity, programmable release, and catalytic or photonic functionalities in physiological environments. Recent advancements include nanoscale MOFs (nMOFs) designed for optimized pharmacokinetics, surface functionalization to overcome biological barriers, and hybrid constructs that incorporate photosensitizers, radiosensitizers, or nanozymes for synergistic theranostics and immunomodulation. Structure–property relationships now correlate topology and defect engineering with stability, mass transport, and biointeractions, while safety frameworks emphasize degradation mapping, linker metabolite tracking, and ISO 10993–aligned risk assessments for device- or drug–device pathways. This review synthesizes design principles and synthetic routes, connects multiscale structure to function, surveys key biomedical indications, and outlines regulatory and translational roadmaps to expedite the clinical adoption of MOF-enabled medicine.​