Issue 8, 2023

Tumor-microenvironment-responsive poly-prodrug encapsulated semiconducting polymer nanosystem for phototherapy-boosted chemotherapy

Abstract

Phototherapy-induced hypoxia in the tumor microenvironment (TME) is responsible for diminished therapeutic efficacy. Designing an intelligent nanosystem capable of responding to hypoxia for TME-responsive drug delivery will, to some extent, improve the therapeutic efficacy and reduce side effects. Semiconducting polymers with high photothermal conversion efficiency and photostability have tremendous potential as phototheranostics. In this paper, hypoxia-activatable tirapazamine (TPZ) was conjugated onto poly(ethylene glycol) to form a pH-sensitive poly-prodrug, PEG–TPZ, that can be triggered by the low acidity of the TME to cleave the acylamide bond for controllable drug release. PEG–TPZ was then used to encapsulate a semiconducting polymer (TDPP) for NIR-II-fluorescence-imaging-guided synergistic therapy. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and ultrahigh photothermal conversion efficiency (∼58.6%) of the TDPP@PEG–TPZ NPs leads to the destruction of the tumor blood vessels, thus further activating the hypoxia-induced chemotherapy of TPZ. As a result, effective tumor regression was achieved after laser irradiation.

Graphical abstract: Tumor-microenvironment-responsive poly-prodrug encapsulated semiconducting polymer nanosystem for phototherapy-boosted chemotherapy

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
17 Feb 2023
Accepted
02 Mai 2023
First published
03 Mai 2023

Mater. Horiz., 2023,10, 3014-3023

Tumor-microenvironment-responsive poly-prodrug encapsulated semiconducting polymer nanosystem for phototherapy-boosted chemotherapy

J. Zhu, Y. Zhang, Z. Li, X. Bao, Y. Zhou, B. Ma, Y. Xie, P. Yan, Z. Wu, Q. Zhang, J. Zou and X. Chen, Mater. Horiz., 2023, 10, 3014 DOI: 10.1039/D3MH00242J

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements