Enzyme-activated binary assembly for targeted, controlled delivery of anti-liver cancer compounds

Liver cancer is the third leading cause of cancer deaths globally. The use of Hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) as a first-line chemotherapeutic agent for liver, lung, and gastric cancers is often hampered by its low activity, limited targeting, and poor water solubility. This results in a low accumulation of HCPT in tumor cells, as well as the inability to maintain continuous treatment. Consequently, there is an urgent need to develop an accessory method that can enhance the therapeutic efficacy of HCPT while exhibiting good biocompatibility and targeted delivery ability. To address this critical issue, an enzyme-triggered supramolecular nanocarrier, refer as SCD/LCC SNCs, has been successfully developed, leveraging the aggregation of the negatively charged sulfate-modified β-CDs and positively charged lauroylcholine chloride (LCC). This nanocarrier demonstrates acetylcholinesterase (LCC) triggered decomposition behavior, making it a promising drug carrier for HCPT. The cellular assays conducted have demonstrated that HCPT loaded into these SCD/LCC SNCs exhibit reduced cytotoxicity towards normal cells while maintaining robust tumor inhibitory activity and inducing apoptosis. Therefore, this study offers a promising strategy for the effective use of HCPT in the treatment of liver cancer.

Enzyme-Responsive Supramolecular Self-Assembly in Small Amphiphiles

Enzyme-responsive molecular assemblies have recently made remarkable progress, owing to their widespread applications. As a class of catalysts with high specificity and efficiency, enzymes play a critical role in producing new molecules and maintaining metabolic stability in living organisms. Therefore, the study of enzyme-responsive assembly aids in understanding the origin of life and the physiological processes occurring within living bodies, contributing to further advancements across various disciplines. In this Review, we summarize three kinds of enzyme-responsive assembly systems in amphiphiles: enzyme-triggered assembly, disassembly, and structural transformation. Furthermore, motivated by the fact that biological macromolecules and complex structures all originated with small molecules, our focus lies on the small amphiphiles (e.g., peptides, surfactants, fluorescent molecules, and drug molecules). We also provide an outlook on the potential of enzyme-responsive assembly systems for biomimetic development and hope this Review will attract more attention to this emerging research branch at the intersection of assembly chemistry and biological science.

Enzyme-Instructed Host-Guest Assembly/Disassembly for Biomedical Applications

Compared with the normal assembly/disassembly approaches, enzyme-instructed host-guest assembly/disassembly strategies due to their superior biocompatibility and specificity for specific substrates, can more effectively and precisely release molecules at lesions for reflecting in vivo biological events. Specifically, due to the over-expression of enzymes in specific tissues, the assembly/disassembly processes can directly occur on the pathological sites (or regions of interest), thus these enzyme-instructed processes are widely and effectively used for disease treatment or precise bioimaging. Based on it, we introduce the concept and major strategies of enzyme-instructed host-guest assembly/disassembly, illustrate their importance in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, and review their advances in biomedical applications. Further, the challenges of these strategies in the clinic and future tendencies are also prospected.

Smart organic materials based on macrocycle hosts

Innovative design of smart organic materials is of great importance for the advancement of modern technology. Macrocycle hosts, possessing cyclic skeletons, intrinsic cavities, and specific guest binding properties, have demonstrated pronounced potential for the elaborate fabrication of a variety of functional organic materials with smart stimuli-responsive characteristics. In this tutorial review, we outline the current development of smart organic materials based on macrocycle hosts as key building blocks, focusing on the design principles and functional mechanisms of the tailored systems. Three main types of macrocycle-based smart organic materials are exemplified as follows according to the distinct forms of construction patterns: (1) supramolecular polymeric materials and nanoassemblies; (2) adaptive molecular crystals; (3) smart porous organic materials. The responsive performances of macrocycle-containing smart materials in versatile aspects, including mechanically adaptive polymers, soft optoelectronic devices, data encryption, drug delivery systems, artificial transmembrane channels, crystalline-state gas adsorption/separation, and fluorescence sensing, are illustrated by discussing the representative studies as paradigms, where the roles of macrocycles in these systems are highlighted. We also provide in the conclusion part the perspectives and remaining challenges in this burgeoning field.

Inflammation-responsive drug delivery nanosystems for treatment of bacterial-induced sepsis

Sepsis, a complication of dysregulated host immune systemic response to an infection, is life threatening and causes multiple organ injuries. Sepsis is recognized by WHO as a big contributor to global morbidity and mortality. The heterogeneity in sepsis pathophysiology, antimicrobial resistance threat, the slowdown in the development of antimicrobials, and limitations of conventional dosage forms jeopardize the treatment of sepsis. Drug delivery nanosystems are promising tools to overcome some of these challenges. Among the drug delivery nanosystems, inflammation-responsive nanosystems have attracted considerable interest in sepsis treatment due to their ability to respond to specific stimuli in the sepsis microenvironment to release their payload in a precise, targeted, controlled, and rapid manner compared to non-responsive nanosystems. These nanosystems posit superior therapeutic potential to enhance sepsis treatment. This review critically evaluates the recent advances in the design of drug delivery nanosystems that are inflammation responsive and their potential in enhancing sepsis treatment. The sepsis microenvironment's unique features, such as acidic pH, upregulated receptors, overexpressed enzymes, and enhanced oxidative stress, that form the basis for their design have been adequately discussed. These inflammation-responsive nanosystems have been organized into five classes namely: Receptor-targeted nanosystems, pH-responsive nanosystems, redox-responsive nanosystems, enzyme-responsive nanosystems, and multi-responsive nanosystems. Studies under each class have been thematically grouped and discussed with an emphasis on the polymers used in their design, nanocarriers, key characterization, loaded actives, and key findings on drug release and therapeutic efficacy. Further, this information is concisely summarized into tables and supplemented by inserted figures. Additionally, this review adeptly points out the strengths and limitations of the studies and identifies research avenues that need to be explored. Finally, the challenges and future perspectives on these nanosystems have been thoughtfully highlighted.

Evaluation on the inclusion behavior of β-cyclodextrins with lycorine and its hydrochloride

Lycorine (Lyc) and its hydrochloride (Lyc∙HCl) as effective drugs can fight against many diseases including novel coronavirus (COVID-19) based on their antiviral and antitumor mechanism. Beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD) is considered a promising carrier in improving its efficacy while minimizing cytotoxicity due to the good spatial compatibility with Lyc. However, the detailed mechanism of inclusion interaction still remains to be further evaluated. In this paper, six inclusion complexes based on β-CDs, Lyc and Lyc∙HCl were processed through ultrasound in the mixed solvent of ethanol and water, and their inclusion behavior was characterized after lyophilization. It was found that the inclusion complexes based on sulfobutyl-beta-cyclodextrin (SBE-β-CD) and Lyc∙HCl had the best encapsulation effect among prepared inclusion complexes, which may be attributed to the electrostatic interaction between sulfonic group of SBE-β-CD and quaternary amino group of Lyc∙HCl. Moreover, the complexes based on SBE-β-CD displayed pH-sensitive drug release property, good solubilization, stability and blood compatibility, indicating their potential as suitable drug carriers for Lyc and Lyc∙HCl.

Antioxidant, Enzyme, and H2O2-Triggered Melanoma Targeted Mesoporous Organo-Silica Nanocomposites for Synergistic Cancer Therapy

The multi-stimuli responsive drug delivery system has recently attracted attention in cancer treatments, since it can reduce several side effects and enhance cancer therapeutic efficacy. Herein, we present the intracellular antioxidant (glutathione, GSH), enzyme (hyaluronidase, HAase), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) triggered mesoporous organo-silica (MOS) nanocomposites for multi-modal treatments via chemo-, photothermal, and photodynamic cancer therapies. A MOS nanoparticle was synthesized by two-types of precursors, tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and bis[3-(triethoxysilyl)propyl] tetrasulfide (BTES), providing large-sized mesopores and disulfide bonds cleavable by GSH. Additionally, we introduced a new β-cyclodextrin-hyaluronic acid (CDHA) gatekeeper system, enabling nanocomposites to form the specific interaction with the ferrocene (Fc) molecule, control the drug release by the HAase and H2O2 environment, as well as provide the targeting ability against the CD44-overexpressing melanoma (B16F10) cells. Indocyanine green (ICG) and doxorubicin (Dox) were loaded in the MOS-Fc-CDHA (ID@MOS-Fc-CDHA) nanocomposites, allowing for hyperthermia and cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) under an 808 nm NIR laser irradiation. Therefore, we demonstrated that the ID@MOS-Fc-CDHA nanocomposites were internalized to the B16F10 cells via the CD44 receptor-mediated endocytosis, showing the controlled drug release by GSH, HAase, and H2O2 to enhance the cancer therapeutic efficacy via the synergistic chemo-, photothermal, and photodynamic therapy effect.

Functional supramolecular micelles driven by the amphiphilic complex of biotin-acyclic cucurbituril and cannabidiol for cell-targeted drug delivery

Precise delivery of hydrophobic drugs has always been a great challenge for drug delivery systems. To overcome this problem, we designed and synthesized a novel supramolecular host biotin-acyclic cucurbituril (ACBB) at the first time, and we have developed a host-guest amphiphilic complex based on ACBB and amantadine-conjugated cannabinoids (AD-CBD) that self-assembles to form functionalized supramolecular micelles (FSMs) for cell-targeted drug delivery. The 1:1 stoichiometric ratio of the amphiphilic complex and its possible host-guest inclusion behaviors are obtained by fluorescence titration, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermal analysis (TGA and DSC). Using transmission electron microscope (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS), we have observed that the shape of FSMs was spherical and size was 137-192 nm. In addition, MTT test results show that FSMs have good antitumor activity, taking MCF-7 as an example, the in vitro half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values of FSMs were 1.53 μM and 5.02 μM, which were better than 30.83 μM of cisplatin. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) results showed that FSMs loaded with Rhodamine B can specifically aggregate on the surface of tumor cells and the targeting ability has been directly verified. Flow cytometry results showed that FSMs could promote tumor cell apoptosis. All results indicated that FSMs had high bioavailability, stability, accurate targeting and excellent delivery efficiency, which had great application potential in the field of drug delivery.

A heat-controlled release system of ethyl vanillin based on acyclic cucurbit[n]urils

Ethyl vanillin (EVA) is one of the most popular spices in the world, but it is unstable and is prone to lose its aroma. Host–Guest encapsulation by supramolecular hosts can improve stability of fragrance molecules and endow them with excellent heat-controlled release properties to satisfy requirements in food, cosmetic and tobacco, etc. Herein, two acyclic cucurbit[n]urils (ACBs, M1 and M2) inclusion complexes of EVA were prepared. Their binding behaviors were investigated by 1H NMR, SEM, XRD, FT-IR and TGA. The stoichiometric ratio was 1:1 by Job’s plot and the binding constant was determined by fluorescence titration. The intermolecular interaction between host and guest was studied by 2D-ROESY NMR and the inclusion mode was proposed. Finally, the heat-controlled release experiment indicated that the inclusion complexes of ACBs/EVA possess less volatilization at higher temperature, longer retention time and heat-controlled release. This study provides theoretical and technical guidance for expanding the application of EVA.

Carbohydrates based stimulus responsive nanocarriers for cancer-targeted chemotherapy: A review of current practices

INTRODUCTION

Many nanocarriers have been developed to react physicochemically to exterior stimuli like ultrasonic, light, heat, and magnetic fields, along with various internal stimuli including pH, hypoxia, enzyme, and redox potential. Nanocarriers are capable to respond various stimuli within the cancer cells to enable on-demand drug delivery, activation of bioactive compounds, controlled drug release, and targeting ligands, as well as size, charge, and conformation conversion, enabling sensing and signaling, overcoming multidrug resistance, accurate diagnosis, and precision therapy.

AREAS COVERED

Carbohydrates are ubiquitous biomolecules with a high proclivity for supramolecular network formation. Numerous carbohydrate-based nanomaterials have been used in biological solicitations and stimuli-based responses. Particular emphasis has been placed on the utilization of carbohydrate-based NPs and nanogels in various fields including imaging, drug administration, and tissue engineering. Because the assembly process is irreversible, carbohydrate-based systems are excellent ingredients for the development of stimulus-responsive nanocarriers for cancer-targeted chemotherapy. This review aims to summarise current research on carbohydrate-based nanomaterials, with an emphasis on stimuli-sensitive nanocarriers for cancer-targeted chemotherapy.

EXPERT OPINION

Carbohydrates-based stimulus-responsive nanomaterials have been proved highly efficient for targeted delivery of anticancer drugs, thus leading to effective chemotherapy with minimum off-target effects.

Multicharged cyclodextrin supramolecular assemblies

Multicharged cyclodextrin (CD) supramolecular assemblies, including those based on positively/negatively charged modified mono-6-deoxy-CDs, per-6-deoxy-CDs, and random 2,3,6-deoxy-CDs, as well as parent CDs binding positively/negatively charged guests, have been extensively applied in chemistry, materials science, medicine, biological science, catalysis, and other fields. In this review, we primarily focus on summarizing the recent advances in positively/negatively charged CDs and parent CDs encapsulating positively/negatively charged guests, especially the construction process of supramolecular assemblies and their applications. Compared with uncharged CDs, multicharged CDs display remarkably high antiviral and antibacterial activity as well as efficient protein fibrosis inhibition. Meanwhile, charged CDs can interact with oppositely charged dyes, drugs, polymers, and biomacromolecules to achieve effective encapsulation and aggregation. Consequently, multicharged CD supramolecular assemblies show great advantages in improving drug-delivery efficiency, the luminescence properties of materials, molecular recognition and imaging, and the toughness of supramolecular hydrogels, in addition to enabling the construction of multistimuli-responsive assemblies. These features are anticipated to not only promote the development of CD-based supramolecular chemistry but also contribute to the rapid exploitation of these assemblies in diverse interdisciplinary applications.

Recent Updates on Supramolecular-Based Drug Delivery - Macrocycles and Supramolecular Gels

Supramolecules-based drug delivery has attracted significant recent research attention as it could enhance drug solubility, retention time, targeting, and stimuli responsiveness. Among the different supramolecules and assemblies, the macrocycles and the supramolecular hydrogels are the two important categories investigated to a greater extent. Here, we provide the most recent advancements in these categories. Under macrocycles, reports on drug delivery by cyclodextrins, cucurbiturils, calixarenes/pillararenes, crown ethers and porphyrins are detailed. The second category discusses the supramolecular hydrogels of macrocycles/polymers and low molecular weight gelators. The updated information provided could be helpful to advance R & D in this vital area.

Orthogonal Design of Supramolecular Prodrug Vesicles via Water-Soluble Pillar[5]arene and Betulinic Acid Derivative for Dual Chemotherapy

Supramolecular prodrug vesicles with efficient property for dual chemotherapy have been successfully constructed based on the orthogonal self-assembly between a water-soluble pillar[5]arene host (WP5) and a betulinic acid guest (BA-D) as well as doxorubicin (DOX). Under the acidic microenvironment of cancer cells, both the encapsulated anticancer drug DOX and prodrug BA-D can be effectively released from DOX-loaded WP5⊃BA-D prodrug vesicles for combinational chemotherapy. Furthermore, bioexperiments indicate that DOX-loaded prodrug vesicles can obviously enhance the anticancer efficiency based on the cooperative effect of DOX and BA-D, while remarkably reducing the systematic toxicity in tumor-mice, displaying great potential applications in combinational chemotherapy for cancer treatments.

Cyclodextrin-Activated Porphyrin Photosensitization for Boosting Self-Cleavable Drug Release

Supramolecular prodrugs that combine the merits of stimuli-responsiveness and targeting ability in a controllable manner have shown appealing prospects in disease diagnostics and therapeutics. Herein, we report that a new theranostic agent with the host-guest-binding-activated photosensitization has been fabricated by a binary supramolecular assembly consisting of the permethyl-β-cyclodextrin-grafted hyaluronic acid and a combretastatin A-4-appended porphyrin derivative. Illuminated by a red-light source, the production efficiency of singlet oxygen (¹O₂) pronouncedly increases by ∼60-fold once the porphyrin core is encapsulated by cyclodextrins. Consequently, the cell-selective fluorescence emission is dramatically enhanced, the microtubule-targeted drug is rapidly and completely released, and the ¹O₂-involved combinational treatment is simultaneously achieved both in vitro and in vivo. To be envisaged, this complexation-boosted light-activatable photosensitizing prodrug delivery system with improved photophysical performance and remarkable phototheranostic outcomes will make a significant contribution to the creation of more advanced stimulus-based biomaterials.

Enzyme-responsive strategy as a prospective cue to construct intelligent biomaterials for disease diagnosis and therapy

Stimuli-responsive materials have been widely studied and applied in biomedical field. Under the stimulation of enzymes, the enzyme-responsive materials (ERMs) can be triggered to change their structures, properties and functions....

Metal-Support Interactions of Single-Atom Catalysts for Biomedical Applications

The development of single-atom catalysts (SACs) has become a rapidly growing research field. It is a critical challenge to understand the interactions between the single-atom metal active sites and the support materials. Recently, original research reports of SACs in biomedical applications have emerged in the literature, yet this topic has seldom been reviewed. Here, this review focuses on the latest advances in single-atom catalysis for biomedical applications and highlights the keys for the design of SACs, such as understanding the interactions between metals and supports and classifying various enzyme-like activities. This review helps bridge the knowledge of multiple disciplines and provides prospects regarding the development of SACs for biomedicine.

Stimuli-Responsive Polymeric Nanomaterials for the Delivery of Immunotherapy Moieties: Antigens, Adjuvants and Agonists

Immunotherapy has been investigated for decades, and it has provided promising results in preclinical studies. The most important issue that hinders researchers from advancing to clinical studies is the delivery system for immunotherapy agents, such as antigens, adjuvants and agonists, and the activation of these agents at the tumour site. Polymers are among the most versatile materials for a variety of treatments and diagnostics, and some polymers are reactive to either endogenous or exogenous stimuli. Utilizing this advantage, researchers have been developing novel and effective polymeric nanomaterials that can deliver immunotherapeutic moieties. In this review, we summarized recent works on stimuli-responsive polymeric nanomaterials that deliver antigens, adjuvants and agonists to tumours for immunotherapy purposes.

Near-Infrared Light-Triggered Thermo-responsive Poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide)-Pyrrole Nanocomposites for Chemo-photothermal Cancer Therapy

The combination therapy based on multifunctional nanocomposites has been considered as a promising approach to improve cancer therapeutic efficacy. Herein, we report targeted multi-functional poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM)-based nanocomposites for synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy toward breast cancer cells. To increase the transition temperature, acrylic acid (AAc) was added in synthetic process of PNIPAM, showing that the intrinsic lower critical solution temperature was changed to 42 °C . To generate the photothermal effect under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation (808 nm), polypyrrole (ppy) nanoparticles were uniformly decorated in PNIPAM-AAc. Folic acid (FA), as a cancer targeting ligand, was successfully conjugated on the surplus carboxyl groups in PNIPAM network. The drug release of PNIPAM-ppy-FA nanocomposites was efficiently triggered in response to the temperature change by NIR laser irradiation. We also confirmed that PNIPAM-ppy-FA was internalized to MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells by folate-receptor-mediated endocytosis and significantly enhanced cancer therapeutic efficacy with combination treatment of chemo-photothermal effects. Therefore, our work encourages further exploration of multi-functional nanocarrier agents for synergistic therapeutic approaches to different types of cancer cells.

Honokiol-Chlorambucil Co-Prodrugs Selectively Enhance the Killing Effect through STAT3 Binding on Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells In Vitro and In Vivo

The broad-spectrum DNA alkylating therapeutic, chlorambucil (CBL), has limited safety and shows lower therapy effect because of a short half-life while used in the clinic. Therefore, it is very necessary to develop a more efficient and safer type of CBL derivate against tumors with selective targeting of cancer cells. In addition, the natural product of honokiol (HN), the novel potent chemo-preventive or therapeutic entity/carrier, can target the mitochondria of cancer cells through STAT3 to prevent cancer from spreading and metastasizing. In this study, we designed and synthesized the honokiol-chlorambucil (HN-CBL) co-prodrugs through carbonate ester linkage conjugating with the targeted delivery help of the HN skeleton in cancer cells. Biological evaluation indicated that HN-CBL can remarkably enhance the antiproliferation of human leukemic cell lines CCRF-CEM, Jurkat, U937, MV4-11, and K562. Furthermore, HN-CBL can also selectively inhibit the lymphocytic leukemia (LL) cell survival compared to those mononuclear cells derived from healthy donors (PBMCs), enhance mitochondrial activity in leukemia cells, and induce LL cell apoptosis. Molecular docking and western blot study showed that HN-CBL can also bind with the STAT3 protein at some hydrophobic residues and downregulate the phosphorylation level of STAT3-like HN. Significantly, HN-CBL could dramatically delay leukemia growth in vivo with no observable physiological toxicity. Thus, HN-CBL may provide a novel and effective targeting therapeutic against LL with fewer side effects.

Smart stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems based on cyclodextrin: A review

Stimulated by researches in materials chemistry and medicine fields, drug delivery has entered a new stage of development. Drug delivery systems have been extensively studied according to the differences in the drug therapeutic environment such as pH, light, temperature, magnet, redox, enzymes, etc. Cyclodextrin is a smart tool that has been proven to be used in the preparation of drug delivery, and has become a new area of concern in recent years. In this review, we discuss recent research advances in smart stimuli-responsive cyclodextrin-based drug delivery. First, different stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems based on cyclodextrin are introduced and classified. Then, the characteristics of different types of stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems are described, and their applications are emphasized. Finally, current challenges and future development opportunities of smart stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems based on cyclodextrin are discussed.

Stimuli-responsive prodrug-based cancer nanomedicine

The rapid development of nanotechnology results in the emergence of nanomedicines, but the effective delivery of drugs to tumor sites remains a great challenge. Prodrug-based cancer nanomedicines thus emerged due to their unique advantages, including high drug load efficiency, reduced side effects, efficient targeting, and real-time controllability. A distinctive characteristic of prodrug-based nanomedicines is that they need to be activated by a stimulus or multi-stimulus to produce an anti-tumor effect. A better understanding of various responsive approaches could allow researchers to perceive the mechanism of prodrug-based nanomedicines effectively and further optimize their design strategy. In this review, we highlight the stimuli-responsive pathway of prodrug-based nanomedicines and their anticancer applications. Furthermore, various types of prodrug-based nanomedicines, recent progress and prospects of stimuli-responsive prodrug-based nanomedicines and patient data in the clinical application are also summarized. Additionally, the current development and future challenges of prodrug-based nanomedicines are discussed. We expect that this review will be valuable for readers to gain a deeper understanding of the structure and development of prodrug-based cancer nanomedicines to design rational and effective drugs for clinical use.

Morphology transformation of pillararene-based supramolecular nanostructures

In this feature article, the construction methods and the factors that influence the morphological transformation of pillararene-based supramolecular nanostructures are reviewed.

Enzyme-responsive fluorescent camptothecin prodrug/polysaccharide supramolecular assembly for targeted cellular imaging and in situ controlled drug release

An enzyme-responsive polysaccharide assembly was constructed, which possesses low cytotoxicity, targeted imaging and controlled drug release, while providing a concurrent means for the real-time tracking of drug delivery.

Mitochondrion-targeting chemiluminescent ternary supramolecular assembly for in situ photodynamic therapy

A new ternary supramolecular system can locate at mitochondria and produce chemiluminescence for in situ photodynamic therapy.

Facile construction of shape-regulated β-cyclodextrin-based supramolecular self-assemblies for drug delivery

Although supramolecular prodrug self-assemblies have been proven as efficient nanocarriers for cancer therapy, tedious synthesis procedures have made their practical applications more difficult. In this paper, β-cyclodextrin-based supramolecular self-assemblies (SSAs) were directly constructed by utilizing β-cyclodextrin trimer (β-CD₃) as the host unit and unmodified curcumin as the guest unit. Due to the adjustment of host-guest inclusion and hydrophilic-hydrophobic interactions occurring in the SSAs, their morphology could be readily tuned by changing the ratio of the two components. Different self-assembly morphologies, such as spherical complex micelles, spindle-like complex micelles and multi-compartment vesicles, were obtained. Furthermore, basic cell experiments were performed to study the corresponding effects of the SSA shape on their biological properties. Compared to the other micelles, the spindle-like complex micelles exhibited enhanced cellular toxicity, uptake behaviors and apoptosis rates, and the spherical complex micelles exhibited poor performance. The performance of the multi-compartment vesicles was similar to that of the spindle-like complex micelles. The facile construction of these shape-regulated SSAs and their different cellular biological properties might be valuable in the controlled drug release field.

Dual acid-responsive bola-type supramolecular vesicles for efficient intracellular anticancer drug delivery

Dual acid-responsive bola-type supramolecular vesicles have been successfully constructed for efficient intracellular anticancer drug delivery and controlled release.

Bifunctional supramolecular prodrug vesicles constructed from a camptothecin derivative with a water-soluble pillar[5]arene for cancer diagnosis and therapy

Bifunctional supramolecular prodrug nanocarriers have been successfully constructed for efficient anticancer drug delivery and tumor diagnosis and therapy.