Affiliation:
1. Key Laboratory of Polymer Ecomaterials Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun 130022 P. R. China
2. School of Materials Science and Engineering Changchun University of Science and Technology Changchun 130022 P. R. China
3. Department of Regeneration Medicine School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Jilin University Changchun 130021 P. R. China
Abstract
AbstractSulfur dioxide (SO2)‐based gas therapy and chemodynamic therapyare both reactive oxygen species (ROS)‐mediated anticancer strategies, but there are few reports of their combined application. To this end, a novel graft‐type copolymeric SO2 prodrug, PLG‐g‐mPEG‐DNs, is designed and synthesized in this work. The amphiphilic polypeptides can self‐assemble into nanoparticles (NPs) and encapsulated Cu(II) ions by metal‐carboxyl coordination. In vitro release results showed that the obtained NPs‐Cu can respond to the acidic pH and high glutathione levels typical of a tumor microenvironment to release Cu(II) and SO2 simultaneously. Both a Cu(II)‐triggered Fenton‐like reaction and the SO2 gas would promote ROS production and upregulate the oxidative stress in tumor cells, leading to an enhanced killing effect towards 4T1 cancer cells compared to either Cu(II) or the NPs alone. Furthermore, the in vitro hemolysis of NPs‐Cu is less than 1.0% at a high concentration of 8 mg/mL, indicating good blood compatibility and the potential for in vivo tumor inhibition application.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Department of Science and Technology of Jilin Province
Education Department of Jilin Province
Subject
Materials Chemistry,Polymers and Plastics,Biomaterials,Bioengineering,Biotechnology