One-photon red light-triggered disassembly of small-molecule nanoparticles for drug delivery

Journal of Nanobiotechnology

Lang Wang¹  Yufeng Wang¹  Wen Lv²  Han Han³  Liang Ge⁴  Weirong Kang⁵  Weiping Wang⁵  Kaiqi Long⁵ 

[1] Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China;Dr Li Dak-Sum Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China;Dr Li Dak-Sum Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China;State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines and Department of Pharmaceutics, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China;State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines and Department of Pharmaceutics, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China;State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China;Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China;Dr Li Dak-Sum Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China;

关键词: Photoresponsive drug delivery;    Self-assembly;    One-photon upconversion-like photolysis;    Cancer therapy;    Three-legged molecules;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12951-021-01103-z

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPhotoresponsive drug delivery can achieve spatiotemporal control of drug accumulation at desired sites. Long-wavelength light is preferable owing to its deep tissue penetration and low toxicity. One-photon upconversion-like photolysis via triplet–triplet energy transfer (TTET) between photosensitizer and photoresponsive group enables the use of long-wavelength light to activate short-wavelength light-responsive groups. However, such process requires oxygen-free environment to achieve efficient photolysis due to the oxygen quenching of triplet excited states.ResultsHerein, we report a strategy that uses red light to trigger disassembly of small-molecule nanoparticles by one-photon upconversion-like photolysis for cancer therapy. A photocleavable trigonal molecule, BTAEA, self-assembled into nanoparticles and enclosed photosensitizer, PtTPBP. Such nanoparticles protected TTET-based photolysis from oxygen quenching in normoxia aqueous solutions, resulting in efficient red light-triggered BTAEA cleavage, dissociation of nanoparticles and subsequent cargo release. With paclitaxel as the model drug, the red light-triggered drug release system demonstrated promising anti-tumor efficacy both in vitro and in vivo.ConclusionsThis study provides a practical reference for constructing photoresponsive nanocarriers based on the one-photon upconversion-like photolysis.Graphical Abstract

【 授权许可】

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