Intravesical delivery of mucoadhesive and tumor-selective-penetrating nanozymes for enhancing the PDT of bladder cancer

Abstract Intravesical photodynamic therapy (PDT) emerges as a promising modality for bladder cancer treatment, yet its efficacy is often curtailed by weak muco-adhesion, poor muco-penetration, low tumor-targeting and intra-tumoral oxygen scarcity. In this work, we introduce a drug delivery system le...

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Main Authors: Yang Liu, Wentao Xu, Xiaowen Qin, Jiajia Zheng, Bin Zheng, Li Sun, Wenyan Zuo, Dingyi Liu, Zhenghong Liu, Yixuan Mou, Heng Wang, Qi Zhang, Jun Chen, Pu Zhang, Dahong Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-08-01
Series:Journal of Nanobiotechnology
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12951-025-03594-6
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Summary:Abstract Intravesical photodynamic therapy (PDT) emerges as a promising modality for bladder cancer treatment, yet its efficacy is often curtailed by weak muco-adhesion, poor muco-penetration, low tumor-targeting and intra-tumoral oxygen scarcity. In this work, we introduce a drug delivery system leveraging cerium oxide (CeO2) nanozymes as the core, polyarginine peptides R11 as the tumor-targeting ligands, and indocyanine green (ICG) as the photosensitizers, with the latter two components assembled on the particle surface. Intravesical ICG@R11-CeO2 nanoparticles displayed enhanced mucoadhesive, mucus-penetrating and tumor-targeting properties, and effectively mitigated the hypoxia threat in the tumor microenvironment to improve the PDT sensitivity. Remarkably, the intravesical PDT via ICG@R11-CeO2 nanoparticles achieved complete tumor inhibition in orthotopic bladder cancer models, offering strong evidence on its clinical translational potential.
ISSN:1477-3155