Acid-sensitive ROS-triggered dextran-based drug delivery system for advanced chemo-photodynamic synergistic therapy

In order to improve the treatment efficacy and reduce the side effects, the synergistic therapy has been effectively exploited in cancer treatment. Herein, we fabricated a kind of acid-sensitive ROS-triggered dextran-based drug delivery system (DHTD/Zn-TPP) for synergistic therapy, in which chemotherapeutics doxorubicin was conjugated to the dextran backbone via ROS cleavable thioketal conjugates while photosensitizer porphyrin (Zn-TPP) was encapsulated via acid-responsive metallic coordinated interaction. The structure and acid-responsive self-assemble behavior of DHTD/Zn-TPP were measured by 1 H NMR, Fourier transform infrared, dynamic laser scattering, and transmission electron microscopy. Further, the in vivo ROS-triggered DOX release and anticancer efficiency were evaluated toward HeLa cells and MCF-7 cells. All the data obtained verified that DHTD/Zn-TPP had a significantly improved cell growth inhibitory effect with light irritation due to the combined application of photodynamic-chemotherapy.