Issue 14, 2018

A pre-protective strategy for precise tumor targeting and efficient photodynamic therapy with a switchable DNA/upconversion nanocomposite

Abstract

Tumor-specific targeting based on folic acid (FA) is one of the most common and significant approaches in cancer therapy. However, the expression of folate receptors (FRs) in normal tissues will lead to unexpected targeting and unsatisfactory therapeutic effect. To address this issue, we develop a pre-protective strategy for precise tumor targeting and efficient photodynamic therapy (PDT) using a switchable DNA/upconversion nanocomposite, which can be triggered in the acidic tumor microenvironment. The DNA/upconversion nanocomposite is composed of polyacrylic acid (PAA) coated upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), the surface of which is modified using FA and chlorin e6 (Ce6) functionalized DNA sequences with different lengths. Initially, FA on the shorter DNA was protected by a longer DNA to prevent the bonding to FRs on normal cells. Once reaching the acidic tumor microenvironment, C base-rich longer DNA forms a C-quadruplex, resulting in the exposure of the FA groups and the bonding of FA and FRs on cancer cell membranes to achieve precise targeting. Simultaneously, the photosensitizer chlorin e6 (Ce6) gets close to the surface of UCNPs, enabling the excitation of Ce6 to generate singlet oxygen (1O2) under near infrared light via Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). In vivo experiments indicated that higher tumor targeting efficiency was achieved and the tumor growth was greatly inhibited through the pre-protective strategy.

Graphical abstract: A pre-protective strategy for precise tumor targeting and efficient photodynamic therapy with a switchable DNA/upconversion nanocomposite

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
09 jan 2018
Accepted
28 fev 2018
First published
05 mar 2018
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2018,9, 3563-3569

A pre-protective strategy for precise tumor targeting and efficient photodynamic therapy with a switchable DNA/upconversion nanocomposite

Z. Yu, Y. Ge, Q. Sun, W. Pan, X. Wan, N. Li and B. Tang, Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 3563 DOI: 10.1039/C8SC00098K

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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