Molecular Switches—Tools for Imparting Control in Drug Delivery Systems

Abstract

Cancer is a globally prevalent cause of premature mortality. Of growing interest is the development of novel anticancer therapies and the optimisation of associated risks. Major issues presently facing conventional anticancer therapies include systemic toxicity, poor solubility, membrane permeability, and multidrug resistance Nanocarriers have been employed to address these issues. Nanocarriers encapsulate anticancer drugs, enabling them to bypass biological barriers and minimise their adverse side effects. These drug delivery systems offer extensive benefits as they can be modified to gravitate towards specific environmental conditions. To further enhance the safety and efficacy of these drug carriers, modern developments have included incorporating a molecular switching mechanism into their structure. These molecular switches are responsive to endogenous and exogenous stimuli and may undergo reversible and repeatable conformational changes when activated. The incorporation of molecular switches can, therefore, impart stimuli-responsive drug-release control on a DDS. These stimuli can then be manipulated to offer precise dosage control over the drug release at a specific target site. This review discusses recent developments in the design of DDSs incorporating light and pH-responsive molecular switches as drug release controllers.

pH‐Triggered Molecular Switch Toward Texture‐Regulated Zn Anode

“…Molecular switches are defined as molecules that can reversibly change their conformations and relative properties under external influence, such as pH, irradiation etc, [7] which have been widely applied as ion sensor, drug delivery, catalysts, etc. [8] In AZIBs, the repeated Zn plating/stripping processes accompanied by HER results in the periodical pH evolution at the Zn surface.…”

Modus Operandi of a Pedalo-Type Molecular Switch: Insight from Dynamics and Theoretical Spectroscopy

“…In recent decades, light-triggered molecular switches have been intensively studied not only because of their fundamental role in biological processes, such as vision [ 1 ], but also as promising candidates for the development of stimuli-responsive [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ] functional materials, such as molecular devices [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ], photo-responsive drug delivery systems [ 10 ], porous materials [ 11 ], liquid crystals [ 12 ] and optical memories [ 13 ], to name a few. Recently, a novel molecular photo-switch based on the azodicarboxamide chromophore unit ( Figure 1 ) stepped into the spotlight thanks to a unique feature: an ultrafast photoinduced volume-conserving motion.…”

ENGINEERING THE NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+ UPCONVERSION NANOPARTICLE LUMINESCENCE ENERGY TRANSFER FOR A RATIOMETRIC pH INDICATOR

“…UCNPs convert NIR into higher energy, enabling the highest tissue permeability in all tissue types. Bio-application and therapeutic systems have used UCNPs as a photoreaction inducer (Lee & Park, 2018;Fitzmaurice et al, 2022;Zhang et al, 2021). UCNPs contain three main components: a sensitizer, an activator, and a host component.…”