Carbonate esters turn camptothecin-unsaturated fatty acid prodrugs into nanomedicines for cancer therapy

We report that carbonate esters could turn hydrophobic camptothecin (CPT)-unsaturated fatty acid prodrugs into nanoaggregates in aqueous solution. The active CPT could be rapidly released once triggered by a reductive stimulus when a carbonate ester was combined with a disulfide bond, resulting in a potent in vivo antitumor activity.