Cheng Jianjun, Wang Shu, Zhao Haitian, Liu Yan, Yang Xin
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, No. 92 West Dazhi Street, Nan Gang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
Department of Oncology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150001, China.
Biomater Sci. 2021 May 18;9(10):3762-3775. doi: 10.1039/d1bm00369k.
Supermolecularly assembled photochemotherapeutic nanocomposites composed of pure drug small molecules are promising for synergistically improved tumor therapy, yet potential multiple challenges remain to be addressed. Herein, we rationally designed a novel multifunctional small molecule disulfide modified natural pentacyclic triterpene of ursolic acid (UASS) that simultaneously possesses self-assembly ability, glutathione (GSH) responsivity, anticancer activity, biocompatibility and biodegradability and further constructed carrier-free GSH-sensitive photosensitive nanocomposite UASS-Ce6 NPs for safe and synergistically improved chemophototherapy. Specifically, UASS-Ce6 NPs exhibit improved 1O2 generation by reducing the energy gap (ΔEST) of Ce6 as determined by density functional theory. Meanwhile, molecular dynamics simulation revealed the possible reasons why free UASS self-assembles and UASS-Ce6 NPs with different assembled morphologies may be primarily attributed to the coplanar arrangement of UASS dimer units. Importantly, via noncovalent π-stacking and hydrophobic interactions, the resulting co-assemblies showed improved water solubility, increased intercellular ROS generation, desirable GSH sensibility, excellent biocompatibility, and enhanced tumor accumulation accompanied by rapid biodegradation, thus leading to significant in vitro and in vivo synergistic antitumor efficacy with favorable biosafety. This study provides a promising insight into the development of a self-assembled active single component platform with desirable stimuli responsiveness and biosafety toward synergistic antitumor therapy based on terpenoid natural small molecules.
由纯药物小分子组成的超分子组装光化学治疗纳米复合材料有望协同改善肿瘤治疗效果,但仍有诸多潜在挑战有待解决。在此,我们合理设计了一种新型多功能小分子二硫键修饰的熊果酸(UASS)天然五环三萜,它同时具备自组装能力、谷胱甘肽(GSH)响应性、抗癌活性、生物相容性和生物降解性,并进一步构建了无载体的GSH敏感型光敏纳米复合材料UASS-Ce6 NPs,用于安全且协同增强的化学光动力治疗。具体而言,通过密度泛函理论确定,UASS-Ce6 NPs通过降低Ce6的能隙(ΔEST)提高了单线态氧(1O2)的生成。同时,分子动力学模拟揭示了游离UASS自组装以及具有不同组装形态的UASS-Ce6 NPs的可能原因,这可能主要归因于UASS二聚体单元的共面排列。重要的是,通过非共价π堆积和疏水相互作用,所得的共组装体表现出改善的水溶性、增加的细胞内活性氧生成、理想的GSH敏感性、优异的生物相容性以及增强的肿瘤蓄积,并伴随着快速的生物降解,从而在体外和体内均产生显著的协同抗肿瘤效果,且具有良好的生物安全性。本研究为基于萜类天然小分子开发具有理想刺激响应性和生物安全性的自组装活性单组分平台用于协同抗肿瘤治疗提供了有前景的见解。