Integration of a
photodynamic therapy platform with a drug-delivery system in a porous structure is an urgent challenge for enhanced anticancer
therapy. Here, an amino-functionalized
metal-organic framework (MOF), which is useful as efficient delivery vehicle for drugs and provides the -NH2 group for postsynthetic modification, is chosen and well-designed for cell imaging and chemo-
photodynamic therapy. The multifunctional MOF nanoprobe was first assembled with
camptothecine drug via noncovalent encapsulation and then bound with
folic acid as the targeted
element and
chlorine e6 (Ce6)-labeled CaB substrate
peptide as the recognition moiety and signal switch. The designed MOF probe can realize
cathepsin B-activated
cancer cell imaging and chemo-photodynamic dual-
therapy combining Ce6 as the
photosensitizer and the
camptothecine drug. Compared with the individual treatment, the dual-functional nanoprobe presents an enhanced treatment efficiency in terms of the time of
chemotherapy,
laser power, and irradiation time of the
photodynamic therapy, which has been confirmed in
cancer cells and in vivo assays. This work presents a significant example of the MOF nanoprobe as an intracellular switch and shows great potential in
cancer cell targeted imaging and multiple
therapies.