Photocleavage-based Photoresponsive Drug Delivery

Targeted drug delivery has been extensively studied in the last decade, whereas both passive and active targeting strategies still face many challenges, such as off-target drug release. Light-responsive drug delivery systems have been developed with high controllability and spatio-temporal resolution to improve drug efficacy and reduce off-target drug release. Photoremovable protecting groups are light-responsive moieties that undergo irreversible photocleavage reactions upon light irradiation. They can be covalently linked to the molecule of interest to control its structure and function with light. In this review, we will summarize recent applications of photocleavage technologies in nanoparticle-based drug delivery for precise targeting and controlled drug release, with a highlight of strategies to achieve long-wavelength light excitation. A greater understanding of these mechanisms and emerging studies will help design more efficient photocleavage-based nanosystems to advance photoresponsive drug delivery.