A Supramolecular Photosensitizer System Based on Nano-Cu/ZIF-8 Capped with Water-Soluble Pillar[6]arene and Methylene Blue Host-Guest Complexations

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) as a safe, non-invasive modality for cancer therapy, in which the low oxygen and high glutathione in the tumor microenvironment reduces therapeutic efficiency. In order to overcome these problems, we prepared a supramolecular photosensitive system of O-2-Cu/ZIF-8@ZIF-8@WP6-MB (OCZWM), which was loaded with oxygen to increase the oxygen concentration in the tumor microenvironment, and the Cu2+ in the system reacted with glutathione (GSH) to reduce the GSH concentration to generate Cu+. It is worth noting that the generated Cu+ can produce the Fenton reaction, thus realizing the combination therapy of PDT and chemodynamic therapy (CDT) to achieve the purpose of significantly improving the anti-cancer efficiency.

Automated summary

Researchers have prepared the OCZWM system to increase oxygen concentration and reduce glutathione concentration in the tumor microenvironment, achieving the combination therapy of PDT and CDT, significantly improving the anti-cancer efficiency.