Controlled drug release to cancer cells from modular one-photon visible light-responsive micellar system

Saemi O Poelma; Seung Soo Oh; Sameh Helmy; Abigail S Knight; G Leslie Burnett; H Tom Soh; Craig J Hawker; Javier Read de Alaniz

doi:10.1039/c6cc04127b

Controlled drug release to cancer cells from modular one-photon visible light-responsive micellar system

Chem Commun (Camb). 2016 Aug 18;52(69):10525-8. doi: 10.1039/c6cc04127b.

Authors

Saemi O Poelma¹, Seung Soo Oh², Sameh Helmy¹, Abigail S Knight², G Leslie Burnett², H Tom Soh³, Craig J Hawker⁴, Javier Read de Alaniz¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA. javier@chem.ucsb.edu.
² Materials Department, Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.
³ Materials Department, Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA and Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.
⁴ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA. javier@chem.ucsb.edu and Materials Department, Materials Research Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.

Abstract

We present a one-photon visible light-responsive micellar system for efficient, on-demand delivery of small molecules. Release is mediated by a novel class of photochromic material - donor-acceptor Stenhouse adducts (DASAs). We demonstrate controlled delivery of small molecules such as the chemotherapeutic agent (paclitaxel) to human breast cancer cells triggered by micellar switching with low intensity, visible light.

Grants and funding

U01 HL099773/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States