Reactive oxygen species-responsive and Raman-traceable hydrogel combining photodynamic and immune therapy for...

Combining immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy with photodynamic therapy (PDT) holds great potential in treating immunologically "cold" tumors, but photo-generated reactive oxygen species (ROS) can inevitably damage co-administered ICB antibodies, hence hampering the therapeutic outcome. Here we create a ROS-responsive hydrogel to realize the sustained co-delivery of photosensitizers and ICB antibodies. During PDT, the hydrogel skeleton poly(deca-4,6-diynedioic acid) (PDDA) protects ICB antibodies by scavenging the harmful ROS, and at the same time, triggers the gradual degradation of the hydrogel to release the drugs in a controlled manner. More interestingly, we can visualize the ROS-responsive hydrogel degradation by Raman imaging, given the ultrastrong and degradation-correlative Raman signal of PDDA in the cellular silent window. A single administration of the hydrogel not only completely inhibits the long-term postoperative recurrence and metastasis of 4T1-tumor-bearing mice, but also effectively restrains the growth of re-challenged tumors. The PDDA-based ROS-responsive hydrogel herein paves a promising way for the durable synergy of PDT and ICB therapy.