1D Coordination Polymer Nanofibers for Low-Temperature Photothermal Therapy

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Cancer Therapy

Background:

• Photothermal therapy (PTT) typically requires high temperatures (>50 °C), risking damage to healthy tissues and incomplete tumor ablation.
• Developing low-temperature PTT strategies is crucial for safer and more effective clinical cancer treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and fabricate biodegradable, pH-responsive, one-dimensional nanoscale coordination polymers (1D-NCPs) for enhanced PTT.
• To develop a low-temperature PTT strategy using these NCPs combined with a heat-shock protein inhibitor.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-modified 1D-NCPs incorporating Mn2+ and indocyanine green (ICG).
• Loading of Gambogic acid (GA), an Hsp90 inhibitor, onto the Mn-ICG@pHis-PEG NCPs.
• In vitro and in vivo evaluation of pH-responsive tumor retention, mild hyperthermia induction, and therapeutic efficacy.

Main Results:

• Mn-ICG@pHis-PEG/GA NCPs demonstrated efficient pH-responsive tumor accumulation and drug loading.
• Mild near-infrared (NIR) irradiation at ~43 °C induced effective tumor cell apoptosis and destruction.
• The developed low-temperature PTT strategy showed excellent tumor-killing efficacy with minimal damage to normal tissues.

Conclusions:

• A facile method for creating PEGylated 1D-NCPs with tunable theranostic functions was established.
• This work presents a promising low-temperature PTT approach for effective and minimally invasive cancer treatment.
• The strategy overcomes limitations of traditional high-temperature PTT, enhancing clinical applicability.