Host Materials Transformable in Tumor Microenvironment for Homing Theranostics

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Oncology

Background:

• Developing effective drug delivery systems for solid tumors remains a challenge.
• Targeted delivery of theranostics (diagnostic and therapeutic agents) is crucial for cancer treatment.
• Tumor microenvironment (TME) characteristics, such as acidity, can be exploited for drug delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a pathology-adaptive nanosystem for enhanced theranostics delivery to solid tumors.
• To investigate the transformation of nanoparticles into nest-like hosts within the acidic TME.
• To evaluate the efficiency of tumor modification and theranostics accumulation using this nanosystem.

Main Methods:

• Intravenous (i.v.) injection of nanoparticles designed to self-assemble.
• Utilizing the acidic tumor microenvironment to trigger nanoparticle transformation into nanofibers and nest-like hosts.
• Assessing the accumulation and stabilization of theranostics within the modified tumor tissue.

Main Results:

• The nanosystem successfully transformed into nest-like hosts under acidic conditions.
• The solid tumor was effectively and firmly modified by these hosts.
• Highly efficient accumulation and stabilization of guest theranostics within the tumor were achieved.

Conclusions:

• The pathology-adaptive nanosystem demonstrates a promising strategy for theranostics delivery.
• Exploiting the acidic TME for nanosystem self-assembly offers a novel approach to tumor targeting.
• This approach holds significant potential for improving cancer theranostics efficacy.