An imine-linked covalent organic framework with intrinsic photo-induced mitochondrial regulation for breast cancer therapy

Majority of photodynamic therapy (PDT) or photothermal therapy (PTT) is achieved by the integration of photosensitizers or photothermal agents into nanocarriers, which may bring risks due to uncertain leakage with serious nonspecific damage to normal tissues. Thus, we report an imine-linked nanoscale covalent organic framework (COF) with intrinsic photo-response ability, showing a high singlet oxygen generation ability by 660 nm irradiation, followed by the surface fabrication of polydopamine (PDA) that displays an excellent photothermal conversion performance under 808 nm irradiation. Furthermore, therapeutic agents with the modulation capacity of subcellular organelle such as mitochondria, shows more precision and effectiveness in cancer therapy. Herein, the obtained COF@PDA nanoplatform not only provides an excellent PDT/PTT-in-one therapeutic effect on inhibition of MCF-7 cancer cells, but also gives a prominent photo-induced mitochondrial regulation performance for enhanced treatment.