Abstract
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have proven to be a promising class of drug carriers due to their high porosity, crystalline properties with defined structure information, and their potential for further functionalization. However, to date, no extensive research has been conducted on MOF-based drug carriers with stimuli-responsive, dual-drug delivery, and tumor targeting functions. Here, we demonstrate the strategy of constructing a redox responsive and tumor-targeted MOF, as dual-drug carrier, by anchoring functional disulfide anhydride and folic acid (FA) molecules to the organic links of MOFs, respectively. The MOF composites show the controlled release of loaded 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) entrapped within UiO-66-NH2 nanostructures modified by dichloroacetic acid (DCA). Moreover, the MOF building block DCA acts as a synergistical drug to 5-FU in cancer cells inhibition. Through disulfide bonds, the gated MOF has redox-responsive drugs release. The confocal laser scanning microscopy further proved that conjugation of folic acid to the MOF surface can significantly enhance the targeting ability to cancer cells and the cancer cell uptake of FA-MOFs. The synthesis of redox-responsive dual-drug delivery MOF hybrids paves the way to assemble of other MOF hybrids that respond to other triggering factors such as light, temperature, pH, or biomarkers. The properties and functions of such materials are expected to influence the development of sensors, new catalysts, photonic devices, and drug delivery carriers.
Drug Delivery: Photosensitizer-Incorporated Quadruplex DNA-Gated Nanovechicles for Light-Triggered, Targeted Dual Drug Delivery to Cancer Cells (Small 16/2013)
