摘要
Carbon dots(CDs)have attracted more interest in tumor theranostics,but they suffer from the rapid renal clearance due to small size and high hydrophilicity.To solve such problems,hydrophobic pH-triggered carbon dot-drug conjugate(CDs-Hy-DOX)with high doxorubicin(DOX)content of 48.23%were designed by covalent conjugation of DOX onto the CDs via acid-labile linkage with hydrazine(Hy)as bridge.Then the fluorescent traceable hybrid prodrug nanoparticles were fabricated via co-self-assembly with the CDs-Hy-DOX as pH-sensitive prodrug and a pH/reduction dual-triggered degradable hyperbranched polymer PEG-PO-Cy as polyethylene glycol(PEG)-based surfactant,as well as gatekeeper for pH/reduction dual-triggered DOX release.The hybrid prodrug nanoparticles with hydrodynamic diameter of 220 nm and DOX content of 22.99%were obtained with the optimized co-self-assembling condition.They could release 68.98%of DOX in the simulated tumor microenvironment within 3 days in a sustained release mode,with a premature drug leakage of 7.58%.After the acid-triggered DOX release from the CDs-Hy-DOX,which was accelerated by the pH/reduction dual-triggered degradation of the hyperbranched polymer,the strong fluorescence of CDs-Hy was recovered,demonstrating the promising potential in future tumor nanotheranostics.
基金
This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province,China(grant No.18JR3RA271).
