Metal-Free Nanoassemblies of Water-Soluble Photosensitizer and Adenosine Triphosphate for Efficient and Precise Photodynamic Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Engineering photosensitizers into stimuli-responsive supramolecular nanodrugs allows enhanced spatiotemporal delivery and controllable release of photosensitizers, which is promising for dedicated and precise tumor photodynamic therapy. Complicated fabrication for nanodrugs with good tumor accumulation capability and the undesirable side-effects caused by the drug components retards the application of PDT in vivo. The fact that extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is overexpressed in tumor tissue has been overlooked in fabricating nanomedicines for tumor-targeting delivery. Hence, herein we present metal-free helical nanofibers formed in aqueous solution from the coassembly of a cationic porphyrin and ATP as a nanodrug for PDT. The easily accessible and compatible materials and simple preparation enable the nanodrugs with potential in PDT for cancer. Compared to the cationic porphyrin alone, the porphyrin–ATP nanofibers exhibited enhanced tumor-site photosensitizer delivery through whole-body blood circulation. Overexpressed extracellular ATP stabilizes the porphyrin–ATP nanodrug within tumor tissue, giving rise to enhanced uptake of the nanodrug by cancer cells. The enzyme-triggered release of photosensitizers from the nanodrugs upon biodegradation of ATP by intracellular phosphatases results in good tumor therapeutic efficacy. This study demonstrates the potential for employing the tumor microenvironment to aid the accumulation of nanodrugs in tumors, inspiring the fabrication of smart nanomedicines.

A Glutathione Activatable Photosensitizer for Combined Photodynamic and Gas Therapy under Red Light Irradiation

“…[27] However, the poor biocompatibility and biodegradability of current inorganic donors limit the therapeutic applications. [28,29] Moreover, it still lacks the construction of new agents for combined SO 2 gas therapy with PDT, and the anticancer effect cannot yet be evaluated. Therefore, controlled and multifaceted photosensitizers with good biocompatibility and biodegradability for PDT and SO 2 release in tumor tissues are urgently needed.…”

Pure drug nano-assemblies: A facile carrier-free nanoplatform for efficient cancer therapy

“…As for hydrophobic molecules, due to the high surface free energy, a small amount of surfactants may be added to improve the colloidal stability 22 , 25 . The developed PDNAs for cancer therapy are summarized in Table 1 22 , 23 , 25 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 . In this section, the three types of PDNAs will be introduced and we will take an insight into the assembly mechanisms of PDNAs.…”

“…Apart from the common nanospheres and nanorods, PDNAs could also take the form of nanofibers. In a recent study, porphyrin and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) were co-assembled into supramolecular helical nanofibers 39 . As it is known, ATP is negatively charged 70 .…”

A Bacteria‐Responsive Porphyrin for Adaptable Photodynamic/Photothermal Therapy

“…Porphyrin‐based PTT and PDT are non‐contact, convenient, and effective therapeutic methods with low risk in generating drug resistance, and have been applied in clinical treatments for bacterial infections [11–28] . In general, porphyrin derivatives with heavy atoms, cations, and appropriate substituents are commonly used in antimicrobial PDT owing to their high yield of reactive oxygen species, good affinity with bacterial membranes, and non‐stacking properties [29–32] . While for PTT treatments, porphyrin derivatives with changed π electrons, larger conjugated structures, and aggregated morphologies are usually designed because of their red‐shifted absorption and high non‐radiative decay efficiency [33–36] .…”

“…[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] In general, porphyrin derivatives with heavy atoms, cations, and appropriate substituents are commonly used in antimicrobial PDT owing to their high yield of reactive oxygen species, good affinity with bacterial membranes, and non-stacking properties. [29][30][31][32] While for PTT treatments, porphyrin derivatives with changed π electrons, larger conjugated structures, and aggregated morphologies are usually designed because of their red-shifted absorption and high non-radiative decay efficiency. [33][34][35][36] PDT and PTT are normally implemented on different conditions because the efficiency of PDT is significantly restricted in hypoxic environments.…”