Oxidation-strengthened disulfide-bridged prodrug nanoplatforms with cascade facilitated drug release for synergetic photochemotherapy.

ABSTRACT: One of the major barriers in utilizing prodrug nanocarriers for cancer therapy is the slow release of parent drug in tumors. Tumor cells generally display the higher oxidative level than normal cells, and also displayed the heterogeneity in terms of redox homeostasis level. We previously found that the disulfide bond-linkage demonstrates surprising oxidation-sensitivity to form the hydrophilic sulfoxide and sulphone groups. Herein, we develop oxidation-strengthened prodrug nanosystem loaded with pyropheophorbide a (PPa) to achieve light-activatable cascade drug release and enhance therapeutic efficacy. The disulfide bond-driven prodrug nanosystems not only respond to the redox-heterogeneity in tumor, but also respond to the exogenous oxidant (singlet oxygen) elicited by photosensitizers. O

SUBMITTER: Yang B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7610204 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature