A tumor-targeting Ru/polysaccharide/protein supramolecular assembly with high photodynamic therapy ability.

Supramolecular assembly with tumor-targeting properties or photodynamic therapy (PDT) ability has recently become a focus of interest in biomaterial field because of its high therapeutic efficacy against tumor cells. Herein, we reported a new type of targeted supramolecular nanoparticles for photodynamic therapy of tumor cells constructed using adamantane-functionalized transferrin protein (Ad-TRF) and a β-cyclodextrin-functionalized ruthenium complex (Ru-HOP-CD), wherein Ad-TRFs acted as the targeted sites for tumor cells, the coordinated Ru(ii) centers acted as the PDT active sites, and the biocompatible polysaccharide β-cyclodextrins acted as the non-covalent linkers. Significantly, the resultant Ru/polysaccharide/protein exhibited not only specific targeting properties towards tumor cells but also high PDT ability under the irradiation of visible light. Furthermore, the assembly showed selective killing towards tumor cells along with negligible toxicity towards normal cells.