Ruthenium (II)-Coordinated Supramolecular Metallodrug Complex Realizing Oxygen Self-Supply In Situ for Overcoming Hypoxic Tumors

Tumor hypoxia greatly limits the antitumor therapeutic efficacy of oxygen (O-2)-dependent treatments. The common strategies of doping O-2 generating compounds into one package may lead to insufficient O-2 supply in situ in cancer cells due to the relatively low loading content, limited reproducibility, and uncontrollable release kinetics. Herein, organometallic drug complexes combined with a supramolecular interaction strategy are proposed to realize a stable and efficient O-2 self-supply in situ for overcoming hypoxic tumors. A ruthenium (II)-coordinated supramolecular metallodrug complex (RuSMDC) is first designed and synthesized via host-guest interactions between two functionalized drug molecules, in which ruthenium is used to catalyze the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to produce O-2. The obtained RuSMDC further self-assembles into Ru-containing supramolecular metallodrug micelles (RuSMDMs), which provides sufficient O-2 for chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT) oncotherapy in an anaerobic tumor environment. In vitro and in vivo studies further confirm that RuSMDMs effectively alleviate the tumor hypoxic environment, greatly improve the therapeutic effect of chemotherapy and PDT oncotherapy, and reduce the systemic toxicity to normal organs.

Automated summary

A stable and efficient in-situ oxygen self-supply system for hypoxic tumors is proposed using organometallic drug complexes with a supramolecular interaction strategy. The ruthenium (II)-coordinated supramolecular metallodrug complex (RuSMDC) is designed to produce oxygen by catalyzing the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, leading to improved therapeutic effects of chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy oncotherapy in anaerobic tumor environments. Further studies confirm that Ru-containing supramolecular metallodrug micelles effectively alleviate the tumor hypoxic environment and reduce systemic toxicity.