Light-induced reactive-oxygen-species-(ros-) mediated activation of self-assembled nanoplatforms for on-demand drug delivery

Abstract

Significant research efforts have been devoted to the development of multifunctional nanoplatforms that can efficiently target and deliver therapeutic/diagnostic agents to diseased sites. In recent years, the use of internal or external stimuli to trigger drug release in a controlled or programmed fashion is emerging as a promising approach to the design and fabrication of smart drug carriers. Among various stimuli, light as an external source of energy has become a powerful tool for realizing precise drug delivery because it not only allows remote and accurate control of drug release but can also be easily focused into specific pathological areas such as tumor. Recently, the photosensitized cascade generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cleavage of an ROS-sensitive linker have been utilized as a trigger to facilitate drug release at desired target sites. This book chapter highlights recent progress in the light-induced ROS-mediated activation of various self-assembled nanoassemblies for on-demand drug delivery. © 2019 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.