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Review
. 2021 Apr:171:94-107.
doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2021.01.009. Epub 2021 Jan 22.

Targeting drug delivery with light: A highly focused approach

Teresa L Rapp  1 , Cole A DeForest  2
Affiliations
Review

Targeting drug delivery with light: A highly focused approach

Teresa L Rapp et al. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Light is a uniquely powerful tool for controlling molecular events in biology. No other external input (e.g., heat, ultrasound, magnetic field) can be so tightly focused or so highly regulated as a clinical laser. Drug delivery vehicles that can be photonically activated have been developed across many platforms, from the simplest "caging" of therapeutics in a prodrug form, to more complex micelles and circulating liposomes that improve drug uptake and efficacy, to large-scale hydrogel platforms that can be used to protect and deliver macromolecular agents including full-length proteins. In this Review, we discuss recent innovations in photosensitive drug delivery and highlight future opportunities to engineer and exploit such light-responsive technologies in the clinical setting.

Keywords: Dual-action; In vivo drug delivery; Light-mediated delivery; Photoactivated; Photochemistry; Photodegradable hydrogels; Photoresponsive nanoparticles; Photoswitches; Prodrugs.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
A. methods for incorporation of photoresponse in drug delivery. Small-molecule prodrugs (red), nanostructures (blue), and hydrogel biomaterials (green) have all been modified with photoactivators to deliver drug cargo. B. Differently colored light affords different penetration into skin. Image depicts the maximum depth into human skin that >1% of incident photons will reach as a function of wavelength.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Light-responsive small molecules have distinct benefits in terms of ease of dosing, wide circulation, as well as spatiotemporally targeted activation. Light-activated designs rely on the circulatory system for delivery into local tissue, where the active form is revealed through targeted irradiation. Common strategies exploit prodrugs, dual-action drugs, and reversible photoswitches.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Different photoactivatable hydrogel designs with engineered light-responsive triggers for the release of bioactive therapeutics.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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