Smart Metal–Organic Framework-Based Nanoplatforms for Imaging-Guided Precise Chemotherapy

Abstract

Good biocompatibility, active tumor targeting, and stimulus-responsive release offer great opportunity for precise imaging-guided tumor treatment. However, the current strategies for the fabrication of smart theranostic platforms suffer from tedious synthesis processes. Here, we propose a universal and facile strategy for the fabrication of smart nanoscale metal− organic framework (NMOF)-based nanoplatforms for imagingguided precise chemotherapy. As a proof of concept, 5boronobenzene-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (BBDC), as a versatile ligand, was employed for the first time with Gd 3+ as metal nodes to prepare a smart magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-guided drug-delivery system. Specific reversible diol-borate condensation enables effortless coating of glucose on the NMOFs to improve their biocompatibility. The specific interaction between glucose and glucose-transported protein ensures active tumor-targeting ability. Moreover, the glucose layer, as a pH-responsive diol-borate gatekeeper, prevents the premature leakage of drugs. The proposed smart theranostic nanoplatform was well used in MR imaging-guided tumor-targeted precise chemotherapy. This strategy is simply extended to the design of other MOF−glucose composites for diverse applications, such as X-ray computed tomography imaging of gastrointestinal tract with Yb-MOFs-Glu. BBDC, as a functional ligand, provides a simple and universal way to fabricate smart NMOF theranostic platforms with multifunction as "three birds with one stone". The facile and universal strategy lays down a new way to develop multifunctional nanoagents for precision medicine.

Metal–Organic Frameworks for Biomedical Applications

“…Recently, Yin and co‐workers reported a smart NMOF‐based theranostic system integrating CT, MRI, and FL to guide precise chemotherapy of cancer 54. The NMOFs were constructed by 5‐boronobenzene‐1,3‐dicarboxylic acid (BBDC) ligands and Gd/Yb metal nodes.…”

Metal Organic Frameworks as Drug Targeting Delivery Vehicles in the Treatment of Cancer

“…As degradable materials, the mechanism and metabolic processes of MOFs in the body need more data to understand. In recent years, a large number of studies on the in vitro cytotoxicity of MOFs have been reported [27,35,45,55,56,[58][59][60][61]77]. Although these data show that MOFs have good biosafety at a given dose, cell models do not demonstrate that they still display the same biocompatibility in the body.…”

“…It did not release in a neutral environment and released 75% of the drug within 24 h in a weak acid environment. In addition, DOX@MOFs-Glu was synthesized by Zhang and his colleagues who combined pH-responsive drugs, active targeting and CT imaging [55]. The glucose specifically recognized the glucose-transported protein (GLUT1) overexpressed on the surface of tumor cells.…”

<p>Recent Progress of Nanoscale Metal-Organic Frameworks in Cancer Theranostics and the Challenges of Their Clinical Application</p>

“…The MTT assay revealed that the DOX-loaded LA-modified NMOFs showed greater cytotoxicity towards HepG2 cells compared to normal HEK cells. Zhang et al 29 developed a novel strategy for the design of smart NMOFbased nanoplatforms for MRI-guided tumor-targeted precise chemotherapy. The glucose not only acted as a targeting ligand to glucose-transported proteins in cancer cells, but also endowed the NMOFs with a pH-responded release of DOX.…”