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Near-Infrared Light-Activatable Melanized Paclitaxel Nano–Self-Assemblies for Synergistic Anti-tumor Therapy

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Abstract

Building self-assembly nanostructures is an important way to overcome the limitations of paclitaxel in tumor therapy. However, this strategy is also faced with challenges, such as difficulties in efficient release and the potential for drug resistance. Herein, we developed a near-infrared light-activatable melanized paclitaxel self-assembly nanoparticles for synergistic anti-tumor therapy. In this strategy, paclitaxel dimer prodrugs were synthesized and paclitaxel nanoparticles were obtained through self-assembly. Finally, the paclitaxel dimer nanoparticles were capped with polydopamine (PDA, melanoidin) and human serum albumin (HSA). The disulfide bonds in paclitaxel dimeric prodrug specifically respond to high concentrations of glutathione (GSH) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in tumor cells. PDA enhances the biocompatibility of the drug molecules and imparts near-infrared photothermal conversion capability to the nano–self-assemblies. Both the in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that this paclitaxel nanoprodrug exhibited enhanced tumor therapeutic efficacy under near-infrared light irradiation.

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Data Availability

The data and materials in current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (22007083); Zhejiang Provincial Innovation Center of Advanced Textile Technology and the Fundamental Research Funds of Shaoxing Keqiao Research Institute of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (KYY2022004C); the Fundamental Research Funds of Shengzhou Innovation Research Institute of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (SYY2023B000004).

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Author notes

  1. Qiming Zhu and Peizhe Li have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Surface & Interface Science of Polymer Materials of Zhejiang Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Qiming Zhu, Peizhe Li, Qiwen Huang, Xinpei Ding, Nan Wang, Weijun Yao, Maozhong Miao & Zhijun Zhang

  2. Shaoxing Keqiao Research Institute of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Shaoxing, 312000, China

    Zhijun Zhang

  3. Shengzhou Innovation Research Institute of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Shengzhou, 312400, China

    Zhijun Zhang

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  1. Qiming Zhu
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  2. Peizhe Li
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  3. Qiwen Huang
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Correspondence to Weijun Yao, Maozhong Miao or Zhijun Zhang.

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Zhu, Q., Li, P., Huang, Q. et al. Near-Infrared Light-Activatable Melanized Paclitaxel Nano–Self-Assemblies for Synergistic Anti-tumor Therapy. J. Anal. Test. 7, 204–214 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41664-023-00262-2

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