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Photo-triggered nucleus targeting for cancer drug delivery

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Abstract

Here, we report a strategy to deliver drug nanoparticles into cells with nucleus-targeting ability under a spatiotemporal control. The nanoparticles were constructed through self-assembly of photoresponsive prodrugs and free drugs. By incorporating a nucleus localization sequence in the system, drug nanoparticles could be delivered into nuclei upon visible light irradiation. The drug nanoparticles showed high drug loading capacity and specific nucleus-targeting ability, which efficiently killed cancer cells. This self-assembly strategy could be applied to other hydrophobic drugs and targeting ligands for photo-controlled organelle-targeted drug delivery.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (Early Career Scheme, No. 27115220), Ming Wai Lau Centre for Reparative Medicine Associate Member Program, and Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81803469). We thank Dr. Jenny Lam at The University of Hong Kong for providing the A549 cell line. We acknowledge the assistance of The University of Hong Kong Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine Faculty Core Facility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Yafei Li, Yaming Zhang, Tianyi Wang & Weiping Wang

  2. Dr. Li Dak-Sum Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Yafei Li, Wen Lv, Yaming Zhang, Tianyi Wang & Weiping Wang

  3. Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Lang Wang & Yufeng Wang

  4. School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200030, China

    Lipeng Yang & Linyong Zhu

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  1. Yafei Li
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  2. Wen Lv
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  3. Lang Wang
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  9. Weiping Wang
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Correspondence to Weiping Wang.

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Li, Y., Lv, W., Wang, L. et al. Photo-triggered nucleus targeting for cancer drug delivery. Nano Res. 14, 2630–2636 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-3264-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-3264-0

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