Dynamic Covalent Bond-Based Nanoassembly of Curcumin to Enhance the Selective Photothermal Therapy for Tumor Treatment

Introduction: Owing to the uneven distribution of photothermal agents (PTAs), photothermal therapy (PTT) can damage normal tissues. The dynamic reversible covalent bond, which can significantly improve the oxidation stability of the drug and the characteristics of responsive drug release, thus improving the conversion efficiency of the drug, is a feasible solution to enhance the selective PTT for tumor treatment. Methods: The nanoassembly loaded curcumin (Cur) with dynamic covalent boronate and encapsulated Indocyanine Green (ICG) in the phospholipid bilayer by dynamic self-assembly. Results: The pH-responsive dynamic covalent bond-based nanoassembly system has great selective release of drugs in the tumor micro-environment and photothermal conversion efficiency. Furthermore, LIP-C/I could increase the antitumor effect through the combination of PTT and chemotherapy (CT). The experiments in vitro and in vivo have demonstrated that LIP-C/I could enhance selective PTT for tumor treatment. Discussion: Our nanoassembly system provides an alternative approach for enhancing selective PTT for tumor treatment using dynamic covalent boronate.