Reported here is a new theranostic agent, 1, which consists of a Gd3+-texaphyrin core conjugated to a doxorubicin prodrug via a disulfide bond undergoing cleavage in the presence of glutathione, a species typically upregulated in cancer cells. To improve the solubility and tumor targeting of 1, it was loaded into folate receptor-targeted liposomes to produce FL-1. FL-1 was found to selectively produce a greater anti-proliferative effect in the case of the KB and CT26 cell lines as compared to the HepG2 and NIH3T3 cell lines. FL-1 was also found to provide enhanced MR imaging in vivo under conditions of T1 contrast in the early stage of metastatic cancer progression.
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