Endolysosomal environment-responsive photodynamic nanocarrier to enhance cytosolic drug delivery via photosensitizer-mediated membrane disruption

The endolysosome is a major barrier for the effective intracellular delivery by conventional nanocarriers. Herein, we demonstrate that endolysosome environment-responsive photodynamic nanocarriers (EPNs) are capable of encapsulation of the hydrophobic drug paclitaxel (PTX) and photosensitizer (PS)-mediated ELB disruption for effective cancer therapy. EPNs were self-assembled from PS (chlorin e6, Ce6) or Black Hole Quencher-3 (BHQ3) conjugated covalently to polypeptide-based amphiphilic copolymers [monomethoxy polyethylene glycol-block-poly(β-benzyl-l-aspartic acid), mPEG-pBLA]. EPNs have a spherical shape and a unimodal size distribution below 100 nm. Photoquenching of the EPNs was dependent on the molar ratio of mPEG-pBLA-BHQ3/mPEG-pBLA-Ce6. However, in the presence of the endolysosomal enzyme (e.g., esterase), the benzyl ester bond is cleaved which leads to the structural collapse of EPNs, thus triggering drug release and restoring photoactivity. Live cell imaging studies demonstrated that PS-mediated lipid peroxidation significantly increased the ability of model drug (i.e., Nile red) to overcome the ELB. In comparison with PTX treatment alone, the combined treatment of PTX encapsulated EPNs with laser irradiation synergistically induced the death of HeLa and drug-resistant HCT-8 cells in vitro, and suppressed CT-26 tumor growth in vivo. These results suggest that this approach is a promising platform for cancer treatment. Furthermore, this EPN system offers significant potential for effective cytosolic delivery of chemical and biological therapeutics.