A Glutathione (GSH)-Responsive Near-Infrared (NIR) Theranostic Prodrug for Cancer Therapy and Imaging

Anal Chem. 2016 Jun 21;88(12):6450-6. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.6b01135. Epub 2016 Jun 3.

Abstract

To reduce the side effects of chemotherapy, nontoxic prodrugs activated by the tumor microenvironment are urgently required for use in cancer treatment. In this work, we developed prodrug 4 for tumor-targeting treatment and imaging of the anticancer drug release in vivo. Taking advantage of the high glutathione (GSH) concentration in cancer cells, the disulfide bond in prodrug 4 was cleaved, resulting in the release of an active anticancer drug and a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence dye turn-on. Furthermore, contrast to the free anticancer drug, the prodrug exhibited higher cytotoxicity to hepatoma cells than that to normal HL-7702 cells. Thus, prodrug 4 is a promising platform for specific tumor-activatable drug delivery system, because of its favorable features of in situ and in vivo monitoring of the drug release and therapeutic efficacy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Agents / metabolism*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Fluorescent Dyes / metabolism*
  • Fluorescent Dyes / pharmacology
  • Glutathione / metabolism*
  • Hep G2 Cells
  • Humans
  • Liver Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Liver Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Liver Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence / methods
  • Optical Imaging / methods
  • Prodrugs / metabolism*
  • Prodrugs / pharmacology
  • Theranostic Nanomedicine / methods*

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Prodrugs
  • Glutathione