The combination of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and chemotherapy (chemo-photodynamic therapy) for enhancing cancer therapeutic efficiency has attracted tremendous attention in the recent years. However, limitations, such as low local concentration, non-suitable treatment light source, and uncontrollable release of therapeutic agents, result in reduced combined treatment efficacy. This study considered adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is highly upregulated in tumor cells, as a biomarker and developed ingenious ATP-activated nanoparticles (CDNPs) that are directly self-assembled from near-infrared photosensitizer (Cy-I) and amphiphilic Cd(II) complex (DPA-Cd). After selective entry into tumor cells, the positively charged CDNPs would escape from lysosomes and be disintegrated by the high ATP concentration in the cytoplasm. The released Cy-I is capable of producing single oxygen (1 O2 ) for PDT with 808 nm irradiation and DPA-Cd can concurrently function for chemotherapy. Irradiation with 808 nm light can lead to tumor ablation in tumor-bearing mice after intravenous injection of CDNPs. This carrier-free nanoparticle offers a new platform for chemo-photodynamic therapy.
Keywords: ATP-activated nanoparticles; amphiphilic metal complex; chemo-photodynamic therapy; near-infrared photosensitizers; reactive oxygen species.
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