Smart Metal–Organic Framework-Based Nanoplatforms for Imaging-Guided Precise Chemotherapy

Good biocompatibility, active tumor targeting, and stimulus-responsive release offer great opportunity for precise imaging-guided tumor treatment. However, the current strategies for the fabrication of smart theranostic platforms suffer from tedious synthesis processes. Here, we propose a universal and facile strategy for the fabrication of smart nanoscale metal–organic framework (NMOF)-based nanoplatforms for imaging-guided precise chemotherapy. As a proof of concept, 5-boronobenzene-1,3-dicarboxylic acid (BBDC), as a versatile ligand, was employed for the first time with Gd3+ as metal nodes to prepare a smart magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-guided drug-delivery system. Specific reversible diol-borate condensation enables effortless coating of glucose on the NMOFs to improve their biocompatibility. The specific interaction between glucose and glucose-transported protein ensures active tumor-targeting ability. Moreover, the glucose layer, as a pH-responsive diol-borate gatekeeper, prevents the premature leakage of drugs. The proposed smart theranostic nanoplatform was well used in MR imaging-guided tumor-targeted precise chemotherapy. This strategy is simply extended to the design of other MOF–glucose composites for diverse applications, such as X-ray computed tomography imaging of gastrointestinal tract with Yb-MOFs-Glu. BBDC, as a functional ligand, provides a simple and universal way to fabricate smart NMOF theranostic platforms with multifunction as “three birds with one stone”. The facile and universal strategy lays down a new way to develop multifunctional nanoagents for precision medicine.