A cytotoxic amyloid oligomer self-triggered and NIR-enhanced amyloidosis therapeutic system

We report a new strategy for improving the efficiency of non-specific amyloidosis therapeutic drugs by coating amyloid-responsive lipid bilayers. The approach had drawn inspiration from amyloid oligomer-mediated cell membrane disruption in the pathogenesis of amyloidosis. A graphene-mesoporous silica hybrid (GMS)-supported lipid bilayer (GMS-Lip) system was used as a drug carrier. Drugs were well confined inside the nanocarrier until encountering amyloid oligomers, which could pierce the lipid bilayer coat and cause drug release. To ensure release efficiency, use of a near-infrared (NIR) laser was also introduced to facilitate drug release, taking advantage of the photothermal effect of GMS and thermal sensitivity of lipid bilayers. To facilitate tracking, fluorescent dyes were co-loaded with drugs within GMS-Lip and the NIR laser was used once the oligomer-triggered release had been signaled. Because of the spatially and temporally controllable property of light, the NIR-assisted release could be easily and selectively activated locally, by tracking the fluorescence signal. Our design is based on amyloidosis pathogenesis, the cytotoxic amyloid oligomer self-triggered release via cell membrane disruption, for the controlled release of drug molecules. The results may shed light on the development of pathogenesis-inspired drug delivery systems.