Score a goal with buckyballs: Hypoxia-sensitive [70]fullerene nanotherapeutics

Abstract

Li et al. reported the development and application of a novel hypoxia-sensitive fullerene-based nanotherapeutic system for photodynamic therapy in cancer treatment. This system integrates a [70]fullerene scaffold with amino-modified cyclodextrin and the hypoxia-activatable anticancer prodrug tirapazamine, enhanced with tumor-targeting peptides and disulfide bond donors. The created fullerene nanomaterial exhibits selective accumulation in tumor tissues, facilitated by its enhanced water solubility and targeted specificity.