{
  "abstract": "Light addressable drug delivery systems offer opportunities to achieve spatiotemporal control over therapeutic activity while minimising off-target effects. Here we report the design, synthesis, and evaluation of a photocaged photostatin (proPST-1), in which the phenolic group of photostatin-1 (PST-1) was masked with an o-nitrobenzyl (ONB) photocage. Our strategy combines reversible photoswitching of the azobenzene unit with irreversible photolysis of the ONB group, affording active PST-1. Molecular docking studies suggested reduced predicted tubulin compatibility of proPST-1 due to the bulky ONB group relative to PST-1 thus silencing the dark state activity and enabling optical ON-switching. Encapsulation of proPST-1 within polymeric nanoparticles (PNs) formed from an amphiphilic polymer resulted in water soluble nanocarriers with high encapsulation efficiencies of proPST-1 (∼95%). Upon 365 nm irradiation, photolysis released the active cis-PST-1, weakening hydrophobic partitioning and promoting release from the nanoparticle core. In vitro tubulin polymerisation assays confirmed pronounced light-dependent inhibition, while cytotoxicity assays in cells validated concentration-dependent activity only after irradiation. This proof-of-concept study establishes a blueprint for integrating photocaging and photoswitching within nanocarriers to achieve dual activation and triggered release.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "aDepartment of Chemical Engineering & Chemistry and Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.",
    "bThe Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Harshit Singh",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4548-1528"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Anand Kumar Thotakura",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8922-5905"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "A. P. Prakasham",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-7651-679X"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Esmee de Korver"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Anja R. A. Palmans",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7201-1548"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/77z4p0jfend8g.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1039/d6na00763e",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13673699/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "77z4p0jfend8g",
  "issns": [
    "2516-0230"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13673699",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "lcc",
      "QD1-999"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2502|Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7220841217",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13673699/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13673699",
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "The Royal Society of Chemistry",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/77z4p0jfend8g.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:25Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13673699",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13673699"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-10T14:21:40Z",
      "native_id": "0c4396f887bd48278ce4dd857918f8b3",
      "source": "doaj",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1039/d6na00763e"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:2502|Nanoparticle-Based Drug Delivery",
      "subfield": "materials-polymers"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Simultaneous activation and release of a microtubule inhibitor from amphiphilic polymeric nanoparticles",
  "title_text": "Simultaneous activation and release of a microtubule inhibitor from amphiphilic polymeric nanoparticles",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-10T14:21:40Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/77z4p0jfend8g",
  "venue": "Nanoscale advances",
  "versions": []
}