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Review
. 2022 Mar 22:12:855019.
doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.855019. eCollection 2022.

pH-Responsive Polymer Nanomaterials for Tumor Therapy

Shunli Chu  1 , Xiaolu Shi  1 , Ye Tian  1 , Fengxiang Gao  2
Affiliations
Review

pH-Responsive Polymer Nanomaterials for Tumor Therapy

Shunli Chu et al. Front Oncol. .

Abstract

The complexity of the tumor microenvironment presents significant challenges to cancer therapy, while providing opportunities for targeted drug delivery. Using characteristic signals of the tumor microenvironment, various stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems can be constructed for targeted drug delivery to tumor sites. Among these, the pH is frequently utilized, owing to the pH of the tumor microenvironment being lower than that of blood and healthy tissues. pH-responsive polymer carriers can improve the efficiency of drug delivery in vivo, allow targeted drug delivery, and reduce adverse drug reactions, enabling multifunctional and personalized treatment. pH-responsive polymers have gained increasing interest due to their advantageous properties and potential for applicability in tumor therapy. In this review, recent advances in, and common applications of, pH-responsive polymer nanomaterials for drug delivery in cancer therapy are summarized, with a focus on the different types of pH-responsive polymers. Moreover, the challenges and future applications in this field are prospected.

Keywords: drug delivery; nanomaterials; pH-responsive polymer; tumor; tumor microenvironment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic diagram of pH-responsive polymer nanomaterials loaded with anti-tumor drugs and entering the tumor environment.
Figure 2
Figure 2
PH-responsive linkages and the corresponding hydrolyzed products.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Schematic structure of B6-OHA-SS-Ber self-assembly into micelles; (B) the micelles entered into tumor cells and concentrated on mitochondria by active targeting and released the drug to tumor cells (124).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schematic illustration of the preparation of Gd-MHAPNPs and the mechanism of drug release in different physiological environments in the GIT (140).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Application of pH-responsive polymer nanomaterials in tumor monotherapy (left) and application of pH-responsive polymer nanomaterials in tumor synergistic treatment (right).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Schematic illustration of a pH cascade-responsive nucleus-targeted nanoplatform for synergistic chemo-photodynamic therapy (197).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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