Photocrosslinked Co ‐Assembled Amino Acid Nanoparticles for Controlled Chemo/Photothermal Combined Anticancer Therapy

Nanoparticles prepared from the co-assembly of Fmoc-protected tyrosine and Fmoc-protected tryptophan are stabilized using ultraviolet-induced crosslinking. After loading doxorubicin on the surface of these nanoparticles, they are coated with a tannic acid/Fe3+ complex, to impart photothermal properties and glutathione/pH-responsiveness, allowing to precisely control the drug release. The chemo/photothermal combined anticancer potential of these nanoparticles is evaluated in cancer cells and tumor-bearing mice. AbstractNanostructures formed from the self-assembly of amino acids are promising materials in many fields, especially for biomedical applications. However, their low stability resulting from the weak noncovalent interactions between the amino acid building blocks limits their use. In this work, nanoparticles co-assembled by fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc)-protected tyrosine (Fmoc-Tyr-OH) and tryptophan (Fmoc-Trp-OH) are crosslinked by ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation. Two methods are investigated to induce the dimerization of tyrosine, irradiating at 254  nm or at 365 nm in the presence of riboflavin as a photo-initiator. For the crosslinking performed at 254 nm, both Fmoc-Tyr-OH and Fmoc-Trp-OH generate dimers. In contrast, only Fmoc-Tyr-OH participates in the riboflavin-mediated dimerization under irradiation at 365 nm. The participation of bo th amino acids in forming the dimers leads to more stable crosslinked nanoparticles, allowing also to perform further c...

Source: Small - December 28, 2023 Category: Nanotechnology Authors: Tengfei Wang, Yun Qi, Eijiro Miyako, Alberto Bianco, C écilia Ménard‐Moyon Tags: Research Article Source Type: research