An intelligent NIR-responsive chelate copper-based anticancer nanoplatform for synergistic tumor targeted chemo-phototherapy

• Published in: Nanoscale Vol. 9; no. 40; pp. 15685 - 15695
• Main Authors: Feng, Qianhua, Zhang, Wanxia, Li, Yuzhen, Yang, Xuemei, Hao, Yongwei, Zhang, Hongling, Li, Wei, Hou, Lin, Zhang, Zhenzhong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 28.10.2017
• Subjects: Animals; Copper - pharmacology; Doxorubicin - pharmacology; Drug Delivery Systems; Folate Receptor 1; Humans; Infrared Rays; MCF-7 Cells; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Nude; Neoplasms; Phototherapy; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
• ISSN: 2040-3364; 2040-3372
• DOI: 10.1039/c7nr05003h

The chelate copper-based anticancer drug bleomycin (BLM) is usually believed to bind metal ions especially Cu(ii) to generate the "activated BLM" for DNA cleavage. Herein, BLM and L-menthol (LM) co-loaded hollow mesoporous Cu S nanoparticles (HMCu S NPs) with surface folic acid (FA) modification were formulated to construct an intelligent NIR-responsive nanoplatform for synergistic tumor targeted chemo-phototherapy. With the tumor targeting ability of the folate receptor (FR)-positive, FA-HMCu S/BLM/LM could pinpoint tumor cells efficiently. Under NIR irradiation, the versatile HMCu S would be bound to exploit the merits of phototherapy (including PTT and PDT-like effects) for cancer treatment. Meanwhile, benefiting from the controllable "solid-liquid" (S-L) phase transition feature of LM as a gatekeeper, FA-HMCu S/BLM/LM offered a platform for simultaneous NIR-mediated temperature-responsive BLM and copper ion release, which further initiated the generation of the "activated BLM". As a matter of course, the remarkable synergistic combination of Cu-dependent chemo-phototherapy in vitro and in vivo by such a smart all-in-one drug delivery nanoplatform developed here provided information for advancing nanotherapy in biomedical fields.