https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8929-3430
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Abstract
Introduction
Combination therapy provides better outcomes than a single therapy and becomes an efficient strategy for cancer treatment. In this study, we designed a hypoxia- and singlet oxygen-responsive polymeric micelles which contain azo and nitroimidazole groups for enhanced cellular uptake, repaid cargo release, and codelivery of photosensitizer Ce6 and hypoxia-activated prodrug tirapazamine TPZ (DHM-Ce6@TPZ), which could be used for combining Ce6-mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT) and PDT-activated chemotherapy to enhance the therapy effect of cancer.
Methods
The hypoxia- and singlet oxygen-responsive polymeric micelles DHM-Ce6@TPZ were prepared by film hydration method. The morphology, physicochemical properties, stimuli responsiveness, in vitro singlet oxygen production, cellular uptake, and cell viability were evaluated. In addition, the in vivo therapeutic effects of the micelles were verified using a tumor xenograft mice model.
Results
The resulting dual-responsive micelles not only increased the concentration of intracellular photosensitizer and TPZ, but also facilitated photosensitizer and TPZ release for enhanced integration of photodynamic and chemotherapy therapy. As a photosensitizer, Ce6 induced PDT by generating toxic singlet reactive oxygen species (ROS), resulting in a hypoxic tumor environment to activate the prodrug TPZ to achieve efficient chemotherapy, thereby evoking a synergistic photodynamic and chemotherapy therapeutic effect. The cascade synergistic therapeutic effect of DHM-Ce6@TPZ was effectively evaluated both in vitro and in vivo to inhibit tumor growth in a breast cancer mice model.
Conclusion
The designed multifunctional micellar nano platform could be a convenient and powerful vehicle for the efficient co-delivery of photosensitizers and chemical drugs for enhanced synergistic photodynamic and chemotherapy therapeutic effect of cancer.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (2308085QH304), Key Program of Anhui University Natural Science Research (2023AH051930, 2022AH051427), and Scientific Research Projects of Bengbu Medical College of Anhui Province (2022byzd014).
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.