Thioether-terminated triazole-bridged covalent organic framework for dual-sensitive drug delivery application

A novel thioether-terminated triazole bridge-containing covalent organic framework (TCOF) was constructed via a simple click chemistry between alkyne and azide monomers for dual-sensitive [pH and glutathione (GSH)] anticancer drug delivery systems. The synthesized TCOFs were crystalline in nature with a pore size of approximately 10-30 nm, as confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller technique. Owing to the flexible nature of the synthesized COF, polyethylene glycol (PEG) modification was easily performed to yield a stable TCOF (TCOF-PEG) colloidal solution. Doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded TCOF-PEG (TCOF-DOX-PEG) exhibited sensitivity to lysosomal pH 5 and GSH environments. DOX release was four times higher under GSH environment (relative to pH 7.4) and three times higher under pH 5 condition because of the dynamic nature of triazole. In contrast, DOX-loaded COF without the triazole ring (I-COF) did not show any significant drug release in pH 7.4 and acidic pH; however, drug release was observed in GSH environment. MTT drug internalization data demonstrated sustained release of DOX from TCOF-DOX-PEGs. Finally, we demonstrated the utility of TCOF-PEG as an in vitro drug delivery system in HeLa cells. TCOF-DOX-PEG exhibited time-dependent release of DOX followed by internalization. Thus, the novel TCOF system reported here opens a new window in COF research for sensitive drug carrier systems.