pH-Responsive Iron-Containing Metal–Organic Framework Nanoparticle-Based MRI Delivery System for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) demonstrate immense potential in the development of drug carriers for cancer treatment and imaging guidance due to their adjustable particle size, excellent biodegradability, and substantial porosity. In this study, we constructed a nanodrug delivery system, P@F-FD, based on a metal–organic framework. This system is coloaded with the anticancer drug Adriamycin, further modified using 5-FAM, and encapsulated with polydopamine. It exhibits high drug-carrying capacity, satisfactory biocompatibility, pH-responsiveness, and efficient drug-release capability. P@F-FD achieves highly efficient pancreatic cancer therapy through a cascaded mechanism: Initially, the system leverages nanoparticle size-dependent effects for targeted tumor accumulation; subsequently, under the acidic tumor microenvironment, the polydopamine coating undergoes protonation-induced structural transformation to intelligently trigger controlled release of the antitumor drug doxorubicin; simultaneously, the activated theranostic module facilitates synchronous magnetic resonance anatomical imaging via iron components while enabling real-time navigation through covalently conjugated fluorescent probes, collectively guiding precise therapeutic intervention at the tumor site. This innovative application of a nanodelivery organometallic framework not only regulates drug release efficiently but also enhances the platform for pancreatic cancer therapy, providing a strategy for the development of “diagnostic-integrated” nanomaterials for combined cancer therapy.