The construction of nanoplatforms for the multimodal
cancer therapy
still remains an enormous challenge. Ultrathin porous nitrogen-doped
carbon coated stoichiometric copper selenide heterostructures (CuSe/NC)
are prepared using a facile and green one-pot hydrothermal method.
Interestingly, CuSe/NC itself can achieve both photothermal therapy
(PTT) and photocatalytic therapy (PCT) under irradiation of a single
near-infrared (NIR) light (808 nm), which is convenient and safe for
clinical applications. Importantly, the triple-enhanced NIR light-activated
PCT, including O2-independent free radicals, Fenton-like
reaction, and glutathione (GSH) depletion, breaks through the limitations
of hypoxia and overexpressed GSH in cancer cells. Furthermore, CuSe/NC
is loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) via metal coordination and then decorates
with DNA to construct the CuSe/NC-DOX-DNA nanoplatform. Surprisingly,
the facile nanoplatform has an advanced biocomputing capability of
an “AND” Boolean logic gate with the smart “AND”
logic controlled release of DOX upon combined stimuli of pH and GSH
for precise cancer chemotherapy. The synergistic mechanism of proton-mediated
ligand exchange between DOX and GSH is proposed for the “AND”
logic controlled drug release from CuSe/NC-DOX-DNA. In vitro and in
vivo studies demonstrate that CuSe/NC-DOX-DNA has excellent anticancer
efficacy and negligible toxicity. This innovative nanoplatform with
multienhanced anticancer efficacy provides a paradigm for combination
cancer therapy of PTT, PCT, and chemotherapy.
Supramolecular vesicles (SMVs) self‐assembled from the supra‐amphiphiles, consisting of two scaffolds linked together through noncovalent interactions, can realize stimuli‐responsive controlled release of encapsulated drugs for enhanced therapeutic efficacy and minimized side effect of drugs. Pillararenes (PAs), an emerging kind of macrocyclic hosts in 2008, are easy to modify with a variety of functionalities. SMVs from PAs and specific guests mainly based on the host–guest interactions have attracted increasing attention because of their drug delivery and controlled drug release. A great progress in the construction and stimuli‐responsive drug delivery of the PA‐based SMVs has been made since the first work was reported in 2012. This review summarizes the major achievements of the PA‐based SMVs for stimuli‐responsive drug delivery over the past 5 years, including the microstructures of SMVs, multiple stimuli‐responsive SMVs, prodrug SMVs from prodrug PAs and guests, bola‐type SMVs, multifunctional SMVs, glucose‐responsive SMVs for insulin delivery, novel SMVs from responsive PAs, thermo‐responsive SMVs, and ternary SMVs, for chemotherapy, photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy, and other biological applications. The future challenges and research directions of PA‐based SMVs are also outlined from the points of views of the fundamental research, biological applications, and clinical applications of PA‐based SMVs.
The cartoon of amphiphilic guest, macrocyclic host pillararene, and drug‐encapsulated supramolecular vesicle co‐assembled from the two scaffolds of amphiphilic guest and pillararene as smart nanodrugs for multimodal combination therapy matches the 120th anniversary of Nanjing University (NJU), and the small blue balls represent drug molecules and are arranged into the logo of 120th anniversary of Nanjing University, with the Chinese character “Cheng”. The library building is a major landmark at Nanjing University. For more information on stimuli‐responsive drug delivery through pillararene‐based supramolecular vesicles, see the Review by Xuezhong Du and co‐workers (DOI: 10.1002/chem.202202050)
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