pH- and NIR Light-Responsive Micelles with Hyperthermia-Triggered Tumor Penetration and Cytoplasm Drug Release to Reverse Doxorubicin Resistance in Breast Cancer

The acquisition of multidrug resistance (MDR) is a major hurdle for the successful chemotherapy of tumors. Herein, a novel hybrid micelle with pH and near-infrared (NIR) light dual-responsive property is reported for reversing doxorubicin (DOX) resistance in breast cancer. The hybrid micelles are designed to integrate the pH-and NIR light-responsive property of an amphiphilic diblock polymer and the high DOX loading capacity of a polymeric prodrug into one single nanocomposite. At physiological condition (i.e., pH 7.4), the micelles form compact nanostructure with particle size around 30 nm to facilitate blood circulation and passive tumor targeting. Meanwhile, the micelles are quickly dissociated in weakly acidic environment (i.e., pH <= 6.2) to release DOX prodrug. When exposed to NIR laser irradiation, the hybrid micelles can trigger notable tumor penetration and cytosol release of DOX payload by inducing tunable hyperthermia effect. In combination with localized NIR laser irradiation, the hybrid micelles significantly inhibit the growth of DOX-resistant MCF-7/ADR breast cancer in an orthotopic tumor bearing mouse model. Taken together, this pH and NIR light-responsive micelles with hyperthermia-triggered tumor penetration and cytoplasm drug release can be an effective nanoplatform to combat cancer MDR.