Current trends in stimuli-responsive nanotheranostics based on metal–organic frameworks for cancer therapy

In the biomedical field, stimuli-responsive systems comprising smart nanoplatforms based on metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have garnered immense attention in view of their high surface area, biocompatibility, facile synthesis, tunable structural features, adjustable pore size, and highly versatile composition. Interestingly, stimuli-responsive MOFs are excellent nanoplatforms for biomedical applications as they are designed to specifically change their properties upon interior stimuli in target tissues (e.g., pH and redox reaction triggering agents) or exposure to exterior stimuli like temperature, various wavelengths of light and magnetic fields. Compared to other single-imaging techniques either alone or in combination with each other, synergistic therapy based on multimodal imaging-guided strategies deliver high diagnostic accuracy, as well as superior therapeutic efficiency. In order to fully comprehend the field of stimuli-responsive MOFs, herein, the basic mechanistic chemistry of stimuli-responsive MOFs along with the latest progress in the development of cell imaging and theranostic nanoplatforms for biomedical imaging, phototherapy and cancer chemotherapy is elaborated.