Rabies Virus-Inspired Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) for Targeted Imaging and Chemotherapy of Glioma.

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) restricts access to the brain of more than 98 % of therapeutic agents and is largely responsible for treatment failure of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Therefore, it is of great importance to develop a safe and efficient strategy for more effective drug delivery across the BBB into the brain. Inspired by the extraordinary capability of rabies virus (RABV) to enter the central nervous system, we report the development and evaluation of the metal-organic framework-based nanocarrier MILB@LR, which closely mimicked both the bullet-shape structure and surface functions of natural RABV. MILB@LR benefited from a more comprehensive RABV-mimic strategy than mimicking individual features of RABV and exhibited significantly enhanced BBB penetration and brain tumor targeting. MILB@LR also displayed superior inhibition of tumor growth when loaded with oxaliplatin. The results demonstrated that MILB@LR may be valuable for GBM targeting and treatment.

Acid-Induced In Vivo Assembly of Gold Nanoparticles for Enhanced Photoacoustic Imaging-Guided Photothermal Therapy of Tumors.

The complexity of biological systems poses a great challenge in the development of nanotheranostic agents with enhanced therapeutic efficacies. To systematically overcome a series of barriers during in vivo administration and achieve optimal antitumor activity, nanotheranostic agents that can self-adaptively change their properties in response to certain tumor-associated signals are highly preferable. Herein, gold nanoparticles with a mixed-charge zwitterionic surface (Au-MUA-TMA) is fabricated, which can undergo pH-triggered self-assembly for promoting tumor targeting and improving photoacoustic imaging (PAI)-guided photothermal tumor ablation. In blood and normal tissues, relatively small-sized Au-MUA-TMA can circulate stably, and upon arriving at the tumor sites, they quickly assemble into larger aggregates in an acidic tumor environment to ensure higher tumor accumulation and retention. Furthermore, the absorption band of Au-MUA-TMA can be remarkably shifted to the near-infrared (NIR) region, which effectively activates the photoacoustic (PA) signals of tumors and enhances photothermal therapy (PTT) with minimal side effects. This in vivo self-assembly strategy enables the nanotheranostic agents to better fulfill multiple requirements for in vivo application, thereby attaining advanced performances in cancer diagnosis and treatment.