Glutathione Responsive Cubic Gel Particles of Cyclodextrin Metal-Organic Frameworks for Intracellular Drug Delivery

Abstract Novel cubic gel particles (ssCGP) with Glutathione (GSH) triggered drug release features were prepared by crosslinking the cyclodextrin based metal-organic frameworks (CD-MOFs) templets with a newly synthesized biodegradable disulfide bond-bearing linker and removing of the potassium ion in sequence. The morphology and size of ssCGP were investigated by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and dynamic light scattering. Energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) were employed to characterize the structure of ssCGP. ssCGP have regular hexahedron shape with edge length about 200–400 nm. Excellent ability of drug adsorption was achieved by using doxorubicin (DOX) as a model drug. The GSH triggered drug release of ssCGP was observed both in GSH contained solutions and intracellular environments. ssCGP have been demonstrated as a biocompatible porous nanocarrier, particular for intracellular drug delivery.