Issue 3, 2016

A dual-responsive nanocapsule via disulfide-induced self-assembly for therapeutic agent delivery

Abstract

One-step synthesis of fluorescent molecules (SNBDP) containing one disulfide bond and two o-nitrobenzyl groups was demonstrated via multi-component Passerini reaction. This hydrophobic SNBDP could self-assemble into nanocapsules (SNBDP NCs) in aqueous solution via disulfide-induced assembly. The obtained nanocapsules were stable in aqueous solution for several weeks and exhibited enhanced fluorescence when nanocapsules were destroyed due to disaggregation-induced emission. The nanocapsules not only were reduction-sensitive and light-responsive, but also could be endocytosed by HeLa cells for cellular imaging. The enhanced fluorescence in the glutathione (GSH) pretreated HeLa cells showed that the compound was reduction-sensitive in living cells. In vitro WST-8 assays showed the nanocapsules were biocompatible and could further be used as drug delivery carriers. Indocyanine green (ICG), a clinically approved NIR dye, was loaded into the nanocapsules (ICG@SNBDP NCs). ICG@SNBDP NCs showed enhanced photothermal efficacy compared with same concentration of free ICG under 808-nm laser irradiation. Consequently, ICG@SNBDP NCs upon NIR irradiation can effectively kill cancer cells through local hyperthermia. These results highlight the potential of disulfide-induced nanocapsules as smart nanoparticles for cellular imaging and therapeutic agent delivery.

Graphical abstract: A dual-responsive nanocapsule via disulfide-induced self-assembly for therapeutic agent delivery

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
30 Sep 2015
Accepted
23 Nov 2015
First published
25 Nov 2015
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2016,7, 1846-1852

Author version available

A dual-responsive nanocapsule via disulfide-induced self-assembly for therapeutic agent delivery

W. Lin, T. Sun, Z. Xie, J. Gu and X. Jing, Chem. Sci., 2016, 7, 1846 DOI: 10.1039/C5SC03707G

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements