Controllable Synthesis of a Smart Multifunctional Nanoscale Metal–Organic Framework for Magnetic Resonance/Optical Imaging and Targeted Drug Delivery

As a result of their extraordinarily large surfaces and well-defined pores, the design of a multifunctional metal-organic framework (MOF) is crucial for drug delivery but has rarely been reported. In this paper, a novel drug delivery system (DDS) based on nanoscale MOF was developed for use in cancer diagnosis and therapy. This MOF-based tumor targeting DDS was fabricated by a simple postsynthetic surface modification process. First, magnetic mesoporous nanomaterial Fe-MIL-53-NH₂ was used for encapsulating the drug and served as a magnetic resonance contrast agent. Moreover, the Fe-MIL-53-NH₂ nanomaterial exhibited a high loading capacity for the model anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). Subsequently, the fluorescence imaging agent 5-carboxyfluorescein (5-FAM) and the targeting reagent folic acid (FA) were conjugated to the 5-FU-loaded Fe-MIL-53-NH₂, resulting in the advanced DDS Fe-MIL-53-NH₂-FA-5-FAM/5-FU. Owing to the multifunctional surface modification, the obtained DDS Fe-MIL-53-NH₂-FA-5-FAM/5-FU shows good biocompatibility, tumor enhanced cellular uptake, strong cancer cell growth inhibitory effect, excellent fluorescence imaging, and outstanding magnetic resonance imaging capability. Taken together, this study integrates diagnostic and treatment aspects into a single platform by a simple and efficient strategy, aiming for facilitating new possibilities for MOF use for multifunctional drug delivery.