Tumor Microenvironment-Responsive Nanomaterials as Targeted Delivery Carriers for Photodynamic Anticancer Therapy.

Houhe Liu,Yuan Jiang,Chuanshan Xu,Jiwen Yao,Xiaowen Cai,Mei Lin,Huanhuan Guo,Wingnang Leung,Xuejun Jiang

doi:10.3389/fchem.2020.00758

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), as an alternative approach to treat tumors through reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by the activated photosensitizers (PS) upon light irradiation, has attracted wide attention in recent years due to its low invasive and highly efficient features. However, the low hydrophilicity and poor targeting of PS limits the clinical application of PDT. Stimuli-responsive nanomaterials represent a major class of remarkable functional nanocarriers for drug delivery. In particular, tumor microenvironment-responsive nanomaterials (TMRNs) can respond to the special pathological microenvironment in tumor tissues to release the loaded drugs, that allows them to control the release of PS within tumor tissues. Recent studies have demonstrated that TMRNs can achieve the targeted release of PS at tumor sites, increase the concentration of PS in tumor tissues, and reduce side effects of PDT. Hence, in the present paper, we review TMRNs, mainly including pH-, redox-, enzymes-, and hypoxia-responsive smart nanomaterials, and focus on the application of these smart nanomaterials as targeted delivery carriers of PS in photodynamic anticancer therapy, to further boost the development of PDT in tumor therapy.

Highlights

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising approach to treat malignancies and other non-neoplastic lesions including condyloma acuminata, acne, and port wine stains (Rkein and Ozog, 2014)
We focus on reviewing the application of tumor microenvironment-responsive nanomaterials (TMRNs) as targeted delivery carriers for photodynamic anticancer therapy, including its principle and defect and update new research progress to enrich and promote the development of PDT
TMRNs, including pH, redox, hypoxia, and enzyme-responsive nanoparticles, have been proposed as targeted delivery carriers of PS to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of PDT

Summary

Introduction

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising approach to treat malignancies and other non-neoplastic lesions including condyloma acuminata, acne, and port wine stains (Rkein and Ozog, 2014). (2020) Tumor Microenvironment-Responsive Nanomaterials as Targeted Delivery Carriers for Photodynamic Anticancer Therapy. In the present paper, we review TMRNs, mainly including pH-, redox-, enzymes-, and hypoxia-responsive smart nanomaterials, and focus on the application of these smart nanomaterials as targeted delivery carriers of PS in photodynamic anticancer therapy, to further boost the development of PDT in tumor therapy.

Results

Conclusion