Ning Zhang,Daquan Wang,Xunan Jing,Tingting Yang,Hongbo Yang,Lingjie Meng
In the past decades, polymer–drug conjugates of anticancer agents have gained much attention due to their enhanced aqueous solubility, improved pharmacokinetics, and better drug utilization than their conventional insoluble counterparts. Several polymer–drug conjugates have entered the third phase of clinical trials yet suffer from inherent deficiencies, including uncontrolled drug release and unclear degradation mechanisms. In this study, a pH/reactive oxygen species (ROS) dual-responsive PEG-doxorubicin (DOX) conjugate (denoted as TPD) was synthesized through acyl alkynyl-amine click reaction by PEG dipropiolate (PEGB), amine-terminated thioketal (TKL), and doxorubicin (DOX). Due to the generated ene-amine and thioketal in the backbone, the prepared amphiphilic TPD not only has a high drug loading ratio for photosensitizer chlorin e6 (Ce6) but also has the sensitivity to the acidic tumor microenvironment (TME) and ROS. Considering the complex conditions of TME, the prepared TPD@Ce6 nanoparticles (NPs) might respond to the relatively low pH and release Ce6 initially, and upon laser radiation, Ce6 produces abundant singlet oxygen (1O2) to achieve a programmable accelerated release of DOX and more Ce6 at the tumor site. In addition, the NIR fluorescence of DOX could monitor drug delivery and controlled release. The developed TPD@Ce6 NPs can realize the targeted tumor in combination therapy with negligible cytotoxicity on normal tissues.
Gang Liu,Mingyu Liu,Xiujing Li,Xiaorong Ye,Kaiming Cao,Yangzhong Liu,Yue Yu
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, using photodynamic therapy (PDT) and chemodynamic therapy (CDT), is a promising strategy for cancer treatment. However, the production of ROS in tumor cells is often limited by hypoxia, insufficient substrates, and high level of ROS scavengers in a tumor microenvironment, which seriously affects the efficacy of ROS-related tumor therapies. Herein, we report a lipid-supported manganese oxide nanozyme, MLP@DHA&Ce6, by decorating a MnO2 nano-shell on the liposome loaded with dihydroartemisinin (DHA) and photosensitizer Ce6 for generating multisource ROS to enhance cancer therapy. MLP@DHA&Ce6 can be accumulated in tumors and can release active components, Mn2+ ions, and O2. The conjugate generates ROS via nanozyme-catalyzed CDT using DHA as a substrate, PDT through Ce6, and the Fenton reaction catalyzed by Mn2+ ions. The production of O2 from MnO2 enhanced Ce6-mediated PDT under near-infrared light irradiation. Meanwhile, MLP@DHA&Ce6 showed prominent glutathione depletion, which allowed ROS to retain high activity in tumor cells. In addition, the release of Mn2+ ions and DHA in tumor cells induced ferroptosis. This multisource ROS generation and ferroptosis effect of MLP@DHA&Ce6 led to enhanced therapeutic effects in vivo.