Weixia Qing

The hypoxic tumor microenvironment of melanoma imposes a critical limitation on conventional type II photodynamic therapy (PDT), relying on oxygen for the generation of cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS). To overcome this challenge, a donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A) bis-terpyridine ruthenium(II) complex, Ru(tpy)2TT, was rationally designed and synthesized to enable dual type I/II ROS generation. The ROS production efficiency was quantitatively evaluated in B16 murine melanoma cells, and the antitumor efficacy was assessed in a syngeneic C57BL/6N mouse melanoma model. Upon photoactivation at 500 nm, Ru(tpy)2TT efficiently generated both superoxide anion (type I ROS) and singlet oxygen (type II ROS). Intratumoral administration followed by localized irradiation resulted in an 80% reduction in tumor volume after 10 days, with no observed systemic toxicity or off-target effects. These findings demonstrate that Ru(tpy)2TT circumvents hypoxia-induced PDT resistance in melanoma via hypoxia-tolerant and oxygen-dependent ROS pathways, establishing its potential as a targeted precision antitumor agent. Furthermore, this work provides a generalizable molecular design strategy for developing hypoxia-tolerant PDT agents for refractory melanoma.

This review summarizes recent advances of Cu-MOFs for cancer diagnosis and multimodal therapy, including biosensing, chemo/CDT/PDT/PTT, cuproptosis, and immunotherapy, focusing on biosafety and clinical translation challenges.

A viscosity-sensitive, lysosome-targeted near-infrared fluorescent probe (PYATT) was reported in this paper. The fluorescent spectra of PYATT are strongly dependent on viscosity, resulting in a Stokes shift of about 190 nm. Given its photostability, low cytotoxicity, and high fluorescence quantum yield, PYATT is expected to be used in cell imaging. Due to the higher viscosity of tumor cells than normal cells, the fluorescence intensity of PYATT in tumor cells is higher than normal cells, which can realize the visualization of tumors. The near-infrared probe (PYATT) is viscosity-dependent in lysosomes, which is valuable in early diagnosis and treatment of tumor. Graphical Abstract

Currently, drug delivery systems with low toxicity and high efficacy are urgently needed to suppress cancer cells. Herein, a non-toxic and biocompatible drug carrier (mPEG-luteolin-AuNPs) was prepared, which was characteristic by SEM, FT-IR, XRD, average particle size, zeta potential and UV-Vis spectra, respectively. Considering that the morphology of supramolecular hydrogel was porous which was good for storage of drugs, a stable supramolecular hydrogel self-assembly formed based on mPEG-luteolin-AuNPs and α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) was reported. Then, supramolecular hydrogel loaded doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) and sustained DOX release. Meanwhile, in vitro experiments clearly demonstrated that DOX of hydrogel (mPEG-luteolin-AuNPs/DOX) was biologically active, similar to free DOX, but with better cytotoxicity to human glioblastoma cells (U-87 MG) because of its controllable release. Our findings indicated that mPEG-luteolin-AuNPs/DOX might be promising delivery systems for anticancer chemotherapy. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT