Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are compounds consisting of metal ions or clusters coordinated to organic ligands to form one-, two-, or three-dimensional structures. They are a subclass of coordination polymers (CPs), with the special feature that they are often porous. The organic ligands are sometimes referred to as second building structs. The new porous materials have paid great attention because of the variety of advantages such as tunable components, structural diversity, high loading performance and favorable biodegradability. In this review, we highlighted the recent progress on the drug delivery application of MOFs, especially emphasizing the application of pH-responsive delivery as well as magnetic-guided drug delivery systems (DDSs). Subsequently, the applications of MOFs in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), optical imaging (OI), X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging and multimodality imaging will be discussed. Finally, we will provide an overview for the photodynamic therapy and the toxicity feature of MOFs.

This work studied the effect of this relationship on the drug adsorption and delivery of pharmacological molecules. The GCMC has been performed in order to support the drug–matrix interactions in the pore of the material.

Three new metal organic frameworks (MOFs) with chemical formulae [(CH3)2NH2] [Sm3(L1)2(HCOO)2(DMF)2(H2O)]·2DMF·18H2O (1), [Cu2(L2)(H2O)2]·2.22DMA (2) and [Zn2(L1)(DMA)]·1.75DMA were synthesized and structurally characterized. 1 and 2 show a classical NbO-like topology and have two types of interconnected cages. 3 exhibits an uncommon zzz topology and has two types of interconnected cages. These MOFs can adsorb large amounts of the drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and release it in a progressive way. 5-FU was incorporated into desolvated 1, 2 and 3 with loadings of 0.40, 0.42, and 0.45 g g(-1), respectively. The drug release rates were 72%, 96% and 79% of the drug after 96 hours in 1, 120 hours in 2 and 96 hours in 3, respectively. Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations were performed to investigate the molecular interactions during 5-FU adsorption to the three novel materials. The GCMC simulations reproduced the experimental trend with respect to the drug loading capacity of each material. They also provided a structural description of drug packing within the frameworks, helping to explain the load capacity and controlled release characteristics of the materials. 5-FU binding preferences to 1, 2 and 3 reflect the diversity in pore types, chemistry and sizes. The calculated drug load is more related to the molecular properties of accessible volume Vacc than to the pore size.

Cisplatin (DDP) is the first-line chemotherapeutic agent against lung cancer. However, the therapeutic effect of DDP loses over time due to the acquired drug resistance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. In recent years, the role of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) cordycepin (Cor) in cancer treatment has been attracting attention. However, the effects of Cor on DDP resistance in NSCLC are unclear. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effects of Cor in combination with DDP on cell proliferation and apoptosis in NSCLC and explore possible underlying mechanisms. The cell proliferation and apoptosis were analyzed in NSCLC parental (A549) and DDP-resistant (A549DDP) cells treated with DDP alone or in combination with Cor both in vitro and in vivo. Different genes and signaling pathways were investigated between DDP-sensitive and DDP-resistant A549 cells by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. The perturbations of the MAPK and PI3K-AKT signaling pathways were evaluated by Western blot analysis. Our data showed that Cor markedly enhanced DDP inhibition on cell proliferation and promotion of apoptosis compared to the DDP-alone group in both A549 and A549DDP cells. The synergic actions were associated with activation of AMPK; inhibition of AKT, mTOR, and downstream P709S6K; and S6 phosphorylation in the AKT pathway compared with DDP alone. Collectively, combination of Cor and DDP has a synergistic effect in inhibiting proliferation and promoting apoptosis of NSCLC cells in the presence or absence of DDP resistance. The antitumor activity is associated with activation of AMPK and inhibition of the AKT pathway to enhance DDP inhibition on NSCLC. Our results suggested that Cor in combination with DDP could be an additional therapeutic option for the treatment of DDP-resistant NSCLC.

A new ZnII metal–organic framework, [Zn6(L)3(DMA)4]⋅5 DMA (H4L=[1,1′:3′,1′′‐terphenyl]‐3,3′′,5,5′′‐tetracarboxylic acid, DMA=dimethylacetamide), has been synthesized and characterized. The structure contains a three‐dimensional 3,4,4,6‐connected net with (4.62)2(66)(66)(42.610.83) topology and displays selective detection of nitrobenzene, CrO42− and Fe3+ ions. The present work thus indicates that this metal–organic framework could be a prospective candidate for developing novel luminescence sensors for the selective sensing of nitrobenzene, which can be used as a precursor for explosives. Furthermore, the photoluminescent properties of this material in different solvents and with various analytes were investigated and corroborated by theoretical calculations. The results were in good agreement with the experimental solvent‐dependent luminescence behavior.

By using a functionalized ligand strategy, an uncommon (3,3,5)-c polyhedron-based metal–organic framework named GDMU-2 has been constructed, which has a high H2 uptake of 240.7 cm3 g−1 (2.16 wt%) at 77 K and 1 bar.

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