CO2-Responsive drug delivery system created by supramolecular design and assembly for safer, more effective cancer therapy

We developed a carbon dioxide (CO2)-responsive supramolecular drug carrier system through a combination of hydrophobic CO2-sensitive imidazole-containing rhodamine 6G (I–R6G) as an efficient anticancer agent and hydrophilic ureido-cytosine (UrCy) end-capped polyethylene glycol (UrCy-PEG) as a self-a...

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Main Authors: Vo Thuy Thien Ngan, Fasih Bintang Ilhami, Sin-Yu Huang, Ting-Hsuan Su, Hsin-Hsuan Tsai, Chih-Chia Cheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-08-01
Series:Materials Today Advances
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590049823000607
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author Vo Thuy Thien Ngan
Fasih Bintang Ilhami
Sin-Yu Huang
Ting-Hsuan Su
Hsin-Hsuan Tsai
Chih-Chia Cheng
author_facet Vo Thuy Thien Ngan
Fasih Bintang Ilhami
Sin-Yu Huang
Ting-Hsuan Su
Hsin-Hsuan Tsai
Chih-Chia Cheng
author_sort Vo Thuy Thien Ngan
collection DOAJ
description We developed a carbon dioxide (CO2)-responsive supramolecular drug carrier system through a combination of hydrophobic CO2-sensitive imidazole-containing rhodamine 6G (I–R6G) as an efficient anticancer agent and hydrophilic ureido-cytosine (UrCy) end-capped polyethylene glycol (UrCy-PEG) as a self-assembled nanocarrier that could potentially enhance the safety and efficiency of cancer treatment. Owing to the self-complementary quadruple hydrogen bonding interactions between the UrCy moieties at the polymer chain ends, UrCy-PEG can spontaneously self-assemble into spherical-like nanoobjects in water that can effectively encapsulate hydrophobic I–R6G and form co-assembled nanoparticles with tunable sizes (depending on the I–R6G loading content). These nanoparticles display several notable physical features, including high structural stability in normal physiological aqueous media or red blood cell-containing media, unique CO2-responsiveness, and controlled CO2-sensitive I–R6G release. In vitro cytotoxicity assays clearly indicated I–R6G-loaded nanoparticles exerted selective cytotoxicity towards cancer cells, but had no adverse effects on normal cells. I–R6G-loaded nanoparticles exerted significantly higher levels of cytotoxicity at lower doses in CO2-treated cell culture media compared to I–R6G-loaded nanoparticles in pristine media. More importantly, cellular assays demonstrated that—in comparison to I–R6G-loaded nanoparticles in pristine media—CO2-treated culture media accelerated macropinocytic internalization of I–R6G-loaded nanoparticles into cancer cells, and subsequently led to more rapid induction of apoptosis in cancer cells and massive programmed cell death. Thus, this newly created system may act as a potential route to manipulate the drug delivery and release performance of self-assembled nanobjects for efficient cancer therapy.
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spelling doaj.art-ef7dc9af831746e58ac71c73da3d456d2023-09-02T04:32:20ZengElsevierMaterials Today Advances2590-04982023-08-0119100400CO2-Responsive drug delivery system created by supramolecular design and assembly for safer, more effective cancer therapyVo Thuy Thien Ngan0Fasih Bintang Ilhami1Sin-Yu Huang2Ting-Hsuan Su3Hsin-Hsuan Tsai4Chih-Chia Cheng5Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, 10607, TaiwanGraduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, 10607, TaiwanGraduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, 10607, TaiwanGraduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, 10607, TaiwanGraduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, 10607, TaiwanGraduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, 10607, Taiwan; Advanced Membrane Materials Research Center, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, 10607, Taiwan; Corresponding author. Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, 10607, Taiwan.We developed a carbon dioxide (CO2)-responsive supramolecular drug carrier system through a combination of hydrophobic CO2-sensitive imidazole-containing rhodamine 6G (I–R6G) as an efficient anticancer agent and hydrophilic ureido-cytosine (UrCy) end-capped polyethylene glycol (UrCy-PEG) as a self-assembled nanocarrier that could potentially enhance the safety and efficiency of cancer treatment. Owing to the self-complementary quadruple hydrogen bonding interactions between the UrCy moieties at the polymer chain ends, UrCy-PEG can spontaneously self-assemble into spherical-like nanoobjects in water that can effectively encapsulate hydrophobic I–R6G and form co-assembled nanoparticles with tunable sizes (depending on the I–R6G loading content). These nanoparticles display several notable physical features, including high structural stability in normal physiological aqueous media or red blood cell-containing media, unique CO2-responsiveness, and controlled CO2-sensitive I–R6G release. In vitro cytotoxicity assays clearly indicated I–R6G-loaded nanoparticles exerted selective cytotoxicity towards cancer cells, but had no adverse effects on normal cells. I–R6G-loaded nanoparticles exerted significantly higher levels of cytotoxicity at lower doses in CO2-treated cell culture media compared to I–R6G-loaded nanoparticles in pristine media. More importantly, cellular assays demonstrated that—in comparison to I–R6G-loaded nanoparticles in pristine media—CO2-treated culture media accelerated macropinocytic internalization of I–R6G-loaded nanoparticles into cancer cells, and subsequently led to more rapid induction of apoptosis in cancer cells and massive programmed cell death. Thus, this newly created system may act as a potential route to manipulate the drug delivery and release performance of self-assembled nanobjects for efficient cancer therapy.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590049823000607CO2-Responsive drug delivery systemCancer treatmentHypercapnic tumor microenvironmentSupramolecular assemblySelective cellular internalization
spellingShingle Vo Thuy Thien Ngan
Fasih Bintang Ilhami
Sin-Yu Huang
Ting-Hsuan Su
Hsin-Hsuan Tsai
Chih-Chia Cheng
CO2-Responsive drug delivery system created by supramolecular design and assembly for safer, more effective cancer therapy
Materials Today Advances
CO2-Responsive drug delivery system
Cancer treatment
Hypercapnic tumor microenvironment
Supramolecular assembly
Selective cellular internalization
title CO2-Responsive drug delivery system created by supramolecular design and assembly for safer, more effective cancer therapy
title_full CO2-Responsive drug delivery system created by supramolecular design and assembly for safer, more effective cancer therapy
title_fullStr CO2-Responsive drug delivery system created by supramolecular design and assembly for safer, more effective cancer therapy
title_full_unstemmed CO2-Responsive drug delivery system created by supramolecular design and assembly for safer, more effective cancer therapy
title_short CO2-Responsive drug delivery system created by supramolecular design and assembly for safer, more effective cancer therapy
title_sort co2 responsive drug delivery system created by supramolecular design and assembly for safer more effective cancer therapy
topic CO2-Responsive drug delivery system
Cancer treatment
Hypercapnic tumor microenvironment
Supramolecular assembly
Selective cellular internalization
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590049823000607
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