UC San Diego

In recent years, there have been significant strides towards the development of nanomaterials for biomedical applications with a particular focus on selective targeting and cytotoxic drug delivery. However, there is a recognized need for the development of new and advanced strategies towards improved targeting and endosome escape. Herein, we present stimuli-responsive polymeric materials capable of undergoing well-defined and enzyme-directed assembly and/or release of cargo. These systems aim to address a key issue concerning drug-delivery systems, namely the selective and specific targeting of diseased cells and avoidance of non-specific side-effects. [Beta]- lactamase-responsive, doxorubicin-labeled, and peptide substrates were synthesized towards generating enzymatically responsive materials capable of providing an alternative and improved approach for the localization and visualization of drug delivery processes mediated by cell- membrane proteases associated with metastatic cancer. These functionalized materials may eventually serve as molecular diagnostics for disease detection and drug release