A GSH-Responsive Prodrug with Simultaneous Triple-Activation Capacity for Photodynamic/Sonodynamic Combination Therapy with Inhibited Skin Phototoxicity.

Herein, a dual-sensitizer prodrug, named pro-THPC, has been designed to function as both a photosensitizer and a sonosensitizer prodrug for precise antitumor combination therapy with minimized skin phototoxicity. Pro-THPC could be activated by glutathione (GSH) to release the dual-sensitizer, THPC, which simultaneously switches on fluorescence emission and combined capabilities of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and sonodynamic therapy (SDT). Pro-THPC is further formulated into nanoparticles (NPs) for water dispersity to enable in vivo applications.

GSH-activated Porphyrin Sonosensitizer Prodrug for Fluorescence Imaging-guided Cancer Sonodynamic Therapy.

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT), which uses ultrasound to trigger a sonosensitizer to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), is a promising form of cancer therapy with outstanding tissue penetration depth. However, the sonosensitizer may inevitably spread to surrounding healthy tissue beyond the tumor, resulting in undesired side effects under an ultrasound stimulus. Herein, as glutathione (GSH) is overexpressed in the tumor microenvironment, a GSH-activatable sonosensitizer prodrug was designed by attaching a quencher to tetraphydroxy porphyrin for tumor therapy.

A nanoparticle composed of totally hospital-available drugs and isotope for fluorescence/SPECT dual-modal imaging-guided photothermal therapy to inhibit tumor metastasis.

As primary sites of tumor metastasis, sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) require a highly biocompatible theranostic platform for precise localization and treatment to inhibit tumor metastasis. Herein, indocyanine green-human serum albumin (ICG-HSA) nanoparticles (NPs) were fabricated by ICG-induced self-assembly and radiolabeled with technetuim-99 m (Tc). The fabricated NPs were composed of hospital-available drugs and isotopes, making them highly biocompatible for in vivo applications.

Rationally assembled albumin/indocyanine green nanocomplex for enhanced tumor imaging to guide photothermal therapy.

Herein, a novel phototheranostic nanocomplex that is self-assembled from bovine serum albumin (BSA) and indocyanine green (ICG) is developed for enhanced near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging, which benefits the guidance on in vivo cancer photothermal therapy (PTT). The study confirms that the binding of ICG with the bind sits on the albumin will result in improved hydrolytic stability and high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). The ICG loading ratio in the nanocomplex is optimized and confirms the loading ratio of 0.

Nanosized Modification Strategies for Improving the Antitumor Efficacy of MEK Inhibitors.

The RAS-RAF-MEK-ERK signaling pathway (MAPK signaling) is hyperactivated in more than 30% of human cancers. The abnormal activation of this pathway is mainly due to the gain-offunction mutations in RAS or RAF genes. Furthermore, the crucial roles of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) in tumorigenesis, cell proliferation and apoptosis inhibition, make MEK inhibitors (MEKi) attractive candidates for the targeted therapy of MAPK pathway-related cancer.