Strong host-guest interaction enables facile and controllable surface modification of cucurbit[6]uril-based polymer nanocapsules for in vivo cancer targeting

Abstract

Cucurbit[6]uril-based polymer nanocapsules (CB[6]PNs), covalently conjugated with a near-infrared dye (Cy 7), was exploited as a stable platform (Cy7-CB[6]PNs) for in vivo cancer targeting. The strong host-guest interaction between CB[6] and spermidine (spmd) enabled us to modify the surface of the nanocapsules with spmd-conjugated cancer targeting functional tags in a facile, controllable and non-covalent manner. Thanks to the strong host-guest interaction retained even in the bloodstream of a mouse, enhanced accumulation of Cy7-CB[6]PNs on cancer tissues of mice was successfully detected via NIR imaging when the nanocapsules were treated with more number of the cancer targeting functional tags. This result showed the potential of the CB[6]-based strong host-guest interaction as a controllable and efficient tool for surface modification of in vivo cancer targeting nanomaterials. © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group