Design of a Functionalized Metal–Organic Framework System for Enhanced Targeted Delivery to Mitochondria
Salame Haddad, Isabel Abánades Lázaro, Marcus Fantham, Ajay Mishra, Joaquín Silvestre‐Albero, Johannes W. M. Osterrieth, Gabriele S. Kaminski Schierle, Clemens F. Kaminski, Ross S. Forgan, David Fairen‐Jiménez
Abstract
delivery of free drugs still constitutes a critical bottleneck. Herein, we report the design of a mitochondria-targeted metal-organic framework (MOF) that greatly increases the efficacy of a model cancer drug, reducing the required dose to less than 1% compared to the free drug and ca. 10% compared to the nontargeted MOF. The performance of the system is evaluated using a holistic approach ranging from microscopy to transcriptomics. Super-resolution microscopy of MCF-7 cells treated with the targeted MOF system reveals important mitochondrial morphology changes that are clearly associated with cell death as soon as 30 min after incubation. Whole transcriptome analysis of cells indicates widespread changes in gene expression when treated with the MOF system, specifically in biological processes that have a profound effect on cell physiology and that are related to cell death. We show how targeting MOFs toward mitochondria represents a valuable strategy for the development of new drug delivery systems.