Magnetic Nano-Amorphous-Iron-Oxide-Based Drug Delivery System with Dual Therapeutic Mechanisms

Smart nanoparticles that respond to pathophysiological parameters,such as p H,GSH,and H2O2,have been developed with the huge and urgent demand for the high-efficient drug delivery systems(DDS)for cancer therapy.Herein,cubic poly(ethylene glycol)(PEG)-modified mesoporous amorphous iron oxide(AFe)nanoparticles(AFe-PEG)have been successfully prepared as p H-stimulated drug carriers,which can combine doxorubicin(DOX)with a high loading capacity of 948 mg/g,forming a novel multifunctional AFe-PEG/DOX nanoparticulate DDS.In an acidic microenvironment,the AFe-PEG/DOX nanoparticles will not only release DOX efficiently,but also release Fe ions to catalyze the transformation of H2O2 to·OH,acting as fenton reagents.In vitro experimental results proved that the AFe-PEG/DOX nanoparticles can achieve combination of chemotherapeutic(CTT)and chemodynamic therapeutic(CDT)effects on Hela tumor cells.Furthermore,the intrinsic magnetism of AFePEG/DOX makes its cellular internalization efficiency be improved under an external magnetic field.Therefore,this work develops a new and promising magnetically targeted delivery and dual CTT/CDT therapeutic nano-medicine platform based on amorphous iron oxide.

pH Induced Self-assembly of AIE Fluorescent Probe for Tumor Imaging

This work reported an AIE fluorescent probe for tumor imaging based on the p H induced self-assembly strategy. The fluorescent probe was composed of an acid-responsive soluble copolymer PEG-b-PAMA-DMMA with a maleic acid amide group and an anionic soluble aggregation-induced emission fluorogen(AIEgen) TPE-2SO_(3)^(-). The polymer could be transformed into a protonated amine-containing polymer after the hydrolysis of maleic acid amide in acidic tumor microenvironment, which would be further self-assembled with TPE-2SO_(3)^(-)to form aggregated nanoparticles. The transition of TPE-2SO_(3)^(-)from dispersed state to aggregated state led to an obvious increase in fluorescence intensity due to its AIE characteristics.

Synthesis and Characterization of Self-oscillating P(AA-co-AM)/PEG SemiIPN Hydrogels Based on a p H Oscillator in Closed System

Various semi-interpenetrating polymer network（semi-IPN） hydrogels composed of pore-forming agent polyethylene glycol（PEG）, acrylic acid（AA） and acrylamide（AM） were prepared by using free radical polymerization with a two-step method. The chemical structures of the synthesized hydrogels were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and the morphologies were studied by scanning electron microscopy（SEM） method. The swelling properties, such as the p Hresponsive behavior, salt sensitivity, oscillatory swelling/de-swelling behaviors in different solutions with various p H values and self-oscillating behaviors in bath p H oscillator were investigated in detail. The results revealed that the prepared hydrogels exhibited high p H sensitivity and excellent salt sensitivity when the p H values of the medium changes from 3.0 and 7.0 and well reversible properties by undergoing a number of swelling/de-swelling recycles. In particular, the hydrogels exhibited self-oscillation behavior in a closed system containing Br O3？-SO32？-Fe（CN）64？-H＋. This study may create a new possibility as biomaterial for new self-walking actuators and other devices.