A singlet oxygen reservoir based on poly-pyridone and porphyrin nanoscale metal-organic framework for cancer therapy

Abstract

Here, a methacrylate-modified pyridone derivative (mPYR) was loaded into a porphyrin nanoscale metal-organic framework (porphyrin-nMOF). Then, the loaded mPYR was further polymerized to obtain poly-pyridone (poly-mPYR) to form poly-mPYR loaded porphyrin-nMOF, which is designated as PLP and used as a reservoir of singlet oxygen (1O2). It was found that PLP could quickly capture 1O2 in vitro and slowly release 1O2 in vivo to induce cancer cell death. The release of 1O2 was light and oxygen independent, and the entire process did not cause intracellular oxygen consumption. PLP also displayed good therapeutic effect in the treatment of both solid tumor and lung metastasis cancer. This strategy of oxygen- and light-independent 1O2 treatment presents great potential for treating refractory cancer. Also, the form of 1O2 capturing polymer-loaded nMOF expands the biomedical applications of MOFs and polymers, which can be used as a platform for biomedical applications.