Encapsulating an acid-activatable phthalocyanine-doxorubicin conjugate and the hypoxia-sensitive tirapazamine in polymeric micelles for multimodal cancer therapy.

A zinc(ii) phthalocyanine (ZnPc) was conjugated to doxorubicin (Dox) via an acid-labile hydrazone linker. The resulting ZnPc-Dox conjugate was then encapsulated into polymeric micelles formed through self-assembly of a block copolymer of poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(d,l-lactide) both in the absence and presence of the hypoxia-activated prodrug tirapazamine (TPZ) to give ZnPc-Dox@micelles and ZnPc-Dox/TPZ@micelles respectively. These polymeric micelles exhibited an excellent stability in aqueous media, but underwent disassembly in an acidic environment.

A novel distyryl boron dipyrromethene with two functional tags for site-specific bioorthogonal photosensitisation towards targeted photodynamic therapy.

A distyryl boron dipyrromethene based photosensitiser substituted with 1,2,4,5-tetrazine and alkyne moieties was prepared. Through site-specific bioorthogonal reactions with the complementary functional tags anchored on the membrane of A431 human epidermoid carcinoma cells, this versatile photosensitiser exhibited enhanced cellular uptake and photocytotoxicity. The bioorthogonal ligation was also demonstrated in tumour-bearing nude mice.