Synergistically Enhancing Tumor Chemotherapy Using an Aggregation-Induced Emission Photosensitizer on Covalently Conjugated Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Nanoparticles

Abstract

Due to the polygenic and heterogeneous nature of the tumorigenesis process, traditional chemotherapy is far from desirable. Fabricating multifunctional nanoplatforms integrating photodynamic effect can synergistically enhance chemotherapy because they can make the cancer cells much sensitive to chemotherapeutics. However, how to assemble different units in nanoplatforms and minimize side effects caused by chemodrugs and photosensitizers (PSs) still needs to be explored. Herein, a nanoplatform CPP/PS-MIP@DOX is developed using a simultaneously covalently conjugated new aggregation-induced emission (AIE) PS and a cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) on the surface of silica-based molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) nanoparticles, prepared with doxorubicin (DOX) as the template in the water system via a sol−gel technique. CPP/PS-MIP@DOX has good biocompatibility, high DOX-loading ability, promoted cellular uptake, and sustained and pH-sensitive drug release capability. Furthermore, it can efficiently penetrate into tumor tissue, accurately home to, and accumulate at the tumor site. As a result, a better efficacy with lower cytotoxicity is achieved with a smaller dosage of DOX by utilizing either the photodynamic effect or unique characteristics of the MIP. It is the first nanoplatform fabricated by chemically conjugating AIE PSs directly on the surface of the scaffold via the surface-decorated strategy and successfully applied in cancer therapy. This work provides an effective strategy by constructing AIE PS-based cancer nanomedicines with MIPs as scaffolds.

Yeast‐Controlled Double‐Shelled CaCO3/CaF2 Hollow Nanospheres with Hierarchically Porous for Sustained pH‐Sensitive Drug Release

“…Their tumors and major organs were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) to evaluate the suppressive effect and biosafety of various samples. [ 40‐41 ] According to Figure 4f, H&E stained tumor slice from DOX@HPCaCO 3 /CaF 2 ‐FA‐treated mice showed the distinct apoptosis and necrosis compared with the other groups, confirming the superior therapeutic effect. No obvious histological damages were observed in major organs H&E staining (Figure S10), further indicating that there was no systemic toxicity of DOX@HPCaCO 3 /CaF 2 ‐FA.…”

Use of photosensitive molecules in the crosslinking of biopolymers: applications and considerations in biomaterials development

“…PS have other advantages besides co-initiating the polymerization process cleanly and safely; these often show excellent solubility in a wide range of solvents, allowing them to perform reactions in different milieus. 32,33 Furthermore, the stability of PS in solutions of different pH and the dependency of their photophysical and photochemical properties with pH and solvent properties (e.g., dipole moment) is also an explored property, as these factors can modulate the absorption spectra, making them able to be utilized with different light setups and under various conditions. 34,35 One of the main aims of using the energy from radiation in the visible or near-IR electromagnetic spectrum is to develop novel biomaterials that resemble the properties of the target tissue(s) without damaging the application zone.…”

Biomimetic Cancer-Targeting Nanoplatform Boosting AIEgens-Based Photodynamic Therapy and Ferroptosis by Disrupting Redox-Homeostasis

“…It has been widely studied in the treatment of breast cancers. , In particular, the recent emergence of aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) based photosensitizers (AIE-PS), − which exhibited enhanced fluorescence intensity and efficient ROS generation in the aggregated state, has accelerated the development of PDT. Our group has successfully synthesized a series of AIE-PS for various biomedicine applications. − For instance, an AIE-PS (LIQ-TPA-DTZ) with high quantum yield, 1 O 2 and ·OH generation efficiency was recently reported to induce effective PDT . Unfortunately, like most PSs, LIQ-TPA-DTZ also suffered from the disadvantages of poor water solubility, low photostability, dark cytotoxicity, rapid clearance, and lack of cancer targeting in vivo, which made its anticancer treatment only could be achieved by intertumoral administration in the previous study …”