As a new member of the gaseous regulators, sulfur dioxide (SO₂) plays a crucial role in many biological activities. Recent studies have shown that SO₂ is capable of inducing cancer cell apoptosis by regulating intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), allowing SO₂ to serve as an efficient therapeutic agent. Although various polymer-based platforms have presented great potential for the controlled release of SO₂, most of the systems are incapable of monitoring the intracellular generation of SO₂. In this work we present the rational design of SO₂-releasing biodegradable polymersomes, accompanied by a self-reporting property. The polymersome consists of a hydrophilic block of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and a hydrophobic segment of poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC)-based SO₂ donors. The polymersomes not only exhibit good SO₂-releasing performance upon treatment with glutathione (GSH), but can also regulate the fluorescence change of the system, offering a good platform for real-time monitoring of the intracellular production of SO₂. Significantly, the in vitro and in vivo studies indicate the potential for exploitation of these polymersomes as antitumor agents. We expect that incorporating both the SO₂-releasing capacity and self-reporting feature within a polymersome system will provide a unique opportunity for the development of intelligent gas nanovehicles.

中文翻译：

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用于控制二氧化硫释放的自我报告聚合物体的合理设计


作为气体调节剂的新成员，二氧化硫 （SO₂） 在许多生物活动中起着至关重要的作用。最近的研究表明，SO₂ 能够通过调节细胞内活性氧 （ROS） 诱导癌细胞凋亡，使 SO₂ 成为一种有效的治疗剂。尽管各种基于聚合物的平台为 SO₂ 的控释提供了巨大的潜力，但大多数系统无法监测 SO₂ 的细胞内生成。在这项工作中，我们提出了 SO₂ 释放可生物降解聚合物体的合理设计，并伴有自我报告特性。聚合物体由聚乙二醇 （PEG） 的亲水嵌段和基于聚碳酸三亚甲基酯 （PTMC） 的 SO₂ 供体的疏水片段组成。聚合物体在谷胱甘肽 （GSH） 处理后不仅表现出良好的 SO₂ 释放性能，而且还可以调节系统的荧光变化，为实时监测 SO₂ 的细胞内产生提供了良好的平台。值得注意的是，体外和体内研究表明这些聚合物体作为抗肿瘤剂的潜力。我们预计，将 SO₂ 释放能力和自我报告功能整合到聚合物体系统中将为智能气体纳米汽车的开发提供独特的机会。