Photoresponsive Drug/Gene Delivery Systems

Abstract

Light as an external stimulus can be precisely manipulated in terms of irradiation time, site, wavelength, and density. As such, photoresponsive drug/gene delivery systems have been increasingly pursued and utilized for the spatiotemporal control of drug/gene delivery to enhance their therapeutic efficacy and safety. In this review, we summarized the recent research progress on photoresponsive drug/gene delivery, and two major categories of delivery systems were discussed. The first category is the direct responsive systems that experience photoreactions on the vehicle or drug themselves, and different materials as well as chemical structures responsive to UV, visible, and NIR light are summarized. The second category is the indirect responsive systems that require a light-generated mediator signal, such as heat, ROS, hypoxia, and gas molecules, to cascadingly trigger the structural transformation. The future outlook and challenges are also discussed at the end.

Remote Light‐Responsive Nanocarriers for Controlled Drug Delivery: Advances and Perspectives

“…Unlike photoinduced self‐immolative polymers, the light‐triggered changes of polymers hydrophobicity approach undergo hydrophobic‐to‐hydrophilic transition after removal of photoresponsive protecting groups. This hydrophobicity changes lead to the nanoparticle degradation, followed by the payload drug release …”

“…In addition to the shallow light penetration depth, drug release using these incident light causes severe side effects, particularly the phototoxicity. Therefore, the development of more reliable alternatives that enable a high depth tissue penetration and more precise control of photoactivation reaction as well as minimum cellular damage is of clinical importance …”

“…This hydrophobicity changes lead to the nanoparticle degradation, followed by the payload drug release. [59] By virtue of this unique approach, Zhao and co-workers developed the first polymer nanosystem for potential application in drug delivery. [60,61] A series of amphiphilic block copolymers consisting of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(2-nitrobenzyl methacrylate) (PNBM) were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP).…”

“…Therefore, the development of more reliable alternatives that enable a high depth tissue penetration and more precise control of photoactivation reaction as well as minimum cellular damage is of clinical importance. [59,[83][84][85] To this end, the most suitable light source for photo responsive drug delivery nanosystem is the light with wavelength between 650 and 900 nm. [86] In particular, the wavelength range of Small 2019, 15,1903060 Scheme 4.…”

A Light‐Triggerable Nanoparticle Library for the Controlled Release of Non‐Coding RNAs

“…Several strategies have been reported to make lighttriggerable NP delivery systems. [6] Af requently used approach is to introduce light-cleavable molecules,s uch as o-nitrobenzyl groups,o nt he polymer backbone. [7] Exposure of the NPs to light leads to the cleavage of the photosensitive moiety,followed by the disassembly of the formulation.…”