A two-fold interpenetration pillar-layered metal-organic frameworks based on BODIPY for chemo-photodynamic therapy

Abstract The combination of chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy has been proved to be a promising therapy for drug-resistant cancers. In this study, we report, for the first time, a novel two-fold interpenetration pillar-layered metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) material, using BODIPY-derivate bipyridine as linker and Photosensitizer (PS), named BBP-MOFs, was successfully synthesized to serve as a drug carrier and Photodynamic agent simultaneously. The BBP-MOFs could generate singlet oxygen (1O2) to perform PDT under 660 nm light irradiation, in the meantime, the anticancer drugs doxorubicin (DOX) could be loaded for chemotherapy. The results showed that BBP-MOFs exhibited a high drug loading content of 49.7% a controlled drug release and ideal biocompatibility. This DOX loaded BBP-MOFs was readily taken up by HeLa cells, and high levels of 1O2 were generated under light irradiation. This work provided strong evidence for BBP-MOFs as a promising new anticancer drug carrier and PDT candidate, the PDT and chemotherapy combined synergistic therapy revealed high therapeutic efficacy for cancer cells.