Multifunctional Protein Hybrid Nanoplatform for Synergetic Photodynamic-Chemotherapy of Malignant Carcinoma by Homologous Targeting Combined with Oxygen Transport

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) under hypoxic conditions and drug resistance in chemotherapy are perplexing problems in anti-tumor treatment. In addition, central nervous system neoplasm-targeted nanoplatforms are urgently required. To address these issues, a new multi-functional protein hybrid nanoplatform is designed, consisting of transferrin (TFR) as the multicategory solid tumor recognizer and hemoglobin for oxygen supply (ODP-TH). This protein hybrid framework encapsulates the photosensitizer protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) and chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin (Dox), which are attached by a glutathione-responsive disulfide bond. Mechanistically, ODP-TH crosses the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and specifically aggregated in hypoxic tumors via protein homology recognition. Oxygen and encapsulated drugs ultimately promote a therapeutic effect by down-regulating the abundance of multidrug resistance gene 1 (MDR1) and hypoxia-inducible factor-1-α (HIF-1α). The results reveal that ODP-TH achieves oxygen transport and protein homology recognition in the hypoxic tumor occupation. Indeed, compared with traditional photodynamic chemotherapy, ODP-TH achieves a more efficient tumor-inhibiting effect. This study not only overcomes the hypoxia-related inhibition in combination therapy by targeted oxygen transport but also achieves an effective treatment of multiple tumors, such as breast cancer and glioma, providing a new concept for the construction of a promising multi-functional targeted and intensive anti-tumor nanoplatform.