Self-assembled carbon monoxide nanoprodrug for chemiexcitation-triggered synergistic chemotherapy against breast cancer
摘要
Carbon monoxide (CO) has recently been well-established as a promising therapeutic modality against cancer. The development of transition-metal-free and tumor-targeted delivery platforms for CO is highly demanded but remains very sporadic. Herein, we developed a polyprodrug system for the co-delivery of CO and a chemotherapeutic agent combretastin A-4 (CA-4) to the tumor site based on a chemiexcitation mechanism. Such a poly-prodrug successfully achieved the co-activation of CO and CA-4 in response to H2O2 at the tumor site both in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, a synergist effect between CO and CA-4 was observed in suppressing tumor growth in a mouse tumor model. It is anticipated that such a poly-prodrug system could be potentially adapted for the co-delivery of CO and another drug payload for combinational therapy for other indications.