Polydopamine‐drug conjugate nanocomposites based on ZIF‐8 for targeted cancer photothermal‐chemotherapy

Abstract Stimuli‐responsive prodrug‐based nanoplatform with synergistic antitumor activity is of central importance to the development of promising nanomedicines for cancer therapy. Here, we describe a polydopamine‐drug conjugate nanocomposite (ZP‐PDA‐DOX) with targeted cancer photothermal‐chemotherapy (PTT‐CT), which constructed by a gradual copolymerization of dopamine (DA) and pH‐sensitive dopamine‐derived prodrug (DA‐DOX) into the porous channels of zeolite imidazolate frameworks‐8 (ZIF‐8), followed by PEGylation with amino‐terminated folic acid‐polyethylene glycol (NH 2 ‐PEG‐FA) to acquire the high biocompatibility, specificity, and excellent tumor‐targeting property. The incorporation of polydopamine strengthened the stability and dispersion of ZIF‐8, and also conferred photothermal conversion effect. In the tumor acidic microenvironment, the acid‐labile hydrazone linker of DA‐DOX and ZIF‐8 promptly degraded to release activated DOX. Moreover, the generated hyperthermia due to the high photothermal conversion efficiency of PDA component could accelerate drug release, and simultaneously thermally ablate tumor tissue to maximize the DOX‐induced CT, which could also assist PTT to eradicate tumor cells. This study provides a promising strategy for targeted cancer PTT‐CT with synergistic anti‐tumor effect.