To capture extracellular amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) for autophagic clearance, a self-destructive nanosweeper is designed with cationic chitosan core, Beclin 1 peptide and PEG conjugated KLVFF sequence that recognizes and co-assembles with Aβ; the nanosweeper reduces Aβ-induced cytotoxicity in mouse neuroblastoma cells, clears Aβ in the brain of Alzheimer’s disease mouse model and rescues memory deficits (Luo et al., 2018). The gene discussed is BECN1; the disease is neuroblastoma.