Qiwei Tian

Hydrophilic graphene oxide/bismuth selenide nanocomposites for CT imaging, photoacoustic imaging, and photothermal therapy

A nanotheranostic agent has been fabricated by direct deposition of Bi2Se3 nanoparticles on graphene oxide (GO) in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) using a one-pot solvothermal method. The resulting GO/Bi2Se3/PVP nanocomposites show low in vitro cytotoxicity, negligible hemolytic activity and little in vivo toxicity. GO/Bi2Se3/PVP nanocomposites could serve as an efficient bimodal contrast agent to simultaneously enhance X-ray computed tomography imaging and photoacoustic imaging in vivo. In addition, the nanocomposites exhibit significant photothermal cytotoxicity to cancer cells under 808 nm laser irradiation. After intratumoral or intravenous injection of the nanocomposites, irreversible photothermal ablation of tumors in the mouse model is successfully achieved by using 808 nm laser irradiation. All of the positive results highlight that the GO/Bi2Se3/PVP nanocomposites can be developed as a promising nanoplatform for efficient tumor theranostic applications.

Heteropoly blue doped polymer nanoparticles: an efficient theranostic agent for targeted photoacoustic imaging and near-infrared photothermal therapy in vivo

With the development of personalized medicine, the research of theranostic agents with good biocompatibility, stability, and targeting properties remains meaningful. Herein, we report a two-step process to construct heteropoly blue (HPB) doped polymer nanoparticles (HPB/P4VP-b-PEO NPs) with efficient near-infrared (NIR) light absorption and photothermal conversion efficiency of ∼23% to simultaneously perform photoacoustic imaging and photothermal therapy in vivo. After intravenous injection into the 4T1 xenograft model, in vivo photoacoustic imaging confirmed the targeted property of HPB/P4VP-b-PEO NPs due to the enhanced EPR effect. The photoacoustic signal in the tumor at 24 h p.i. was more than ∼10 times that of the pre-injection group. By virtue of their EPR effect, HPB/P4VP-b-PEO NPs achieved a good photothermal therapeutic efficacy in vivo.

Water-Soluble Polymer Nanoparticles Constructed by Three-Component Self-Assembly: An Efficient Theranostic Agent for Phosphorescent Imaging and Photodynamic Therapy

Water-soluble polymer nanoparticles NP-1 and NP-2 were prepared by using a three-component self-assembly of an iridium complex, poly(4-vinyl pyridine-b-ethylene oxide) (P4VP-b-PEO), and methane sulfonic acid (MSA). Due to the unique metal-ligand charge-transfer transition property and the heavy-atom effect of the iridium atom, NP-1 and NP-2 showed bright phosphorescence and generated the singlet oxygen (1 O2 ) species effectively under visible-light irradiation (λ>400 nm) with a power density of 300 mW cm-2 . NP-2, an example of the polymer nanoparticles, showed minimal cytotoxic activity in the dark. Laser confocal fluorescence and flow-cytometry microscopy experiments demonstrated that NP-2 could be taken up by a model cancer-cell line of 4T1 cells, which could be used as a phosphorescent probe for cell imaging by preferentially staining the cytoplasm. After 6 hours of incubation with NP-2 (100 μg mL-1 ), the cell viability of 4T1 cells decreased to approximately 10 % upon visible-light irradiation (λ>400 nm, 300 mW cm-2 ) only for 10 minutes as a result of the generation of the 1 O2 species, thus indicating a proof of concept for effective photodynamic therapy for cancer cells.

Small Gold Nanorods: Recent Advances in Synthesis, Biological Imaging, and Cancer Therapy

Over the past few decades, the synthetic development of ultra-small nanoparticles has become an important strategy in nano-medicine, where smaller-sized nanoparticles are known to be more easily excreted from the body, greatly reducing the risk caused by introducing nano-theranostic agents. Gold nanorods are one of the most important nano-theranostic agents because of their special optical and electronic properties. However, the large size (diameter > 6 nm) of most obtained gold nanorods limits their clinical application. In recent years, more and more researchers have begun to investigate the synthesis and application of small gold nanorods (diameter < 6 nm), which exhibit similar optical and electronic properties as larger gold nanorods. In this review, we summarize the recent advances of synthesis of the small gold nanorods and their application for near-infrared light-mediated bio-imaging and cancer therapy.

BSA-assisted synthesis of ultrasmall gallic acid–Fe(III) coordination polymer nanoparticles for cancer theranostics

Protein-related nanotheranostic agents hold great promise as tools to serve many clinical applications. Proteins such as BSA are used to regulate the synthesis of nondegradable inorganic nanoparticles (NPs). To fully employ the potential of such proteins, a new type of biosafe nanotheranostic agent must be designed to optimize BSA as a biomineralization agent. Here, a straightforward BSA-assisted biomineralization method was developed to prepare gallic acid (GA)–Fe(III) coordination polymer NPs. BSA-coated GA-Fe (GA-Fe@BSA) NPs were ultrasmall (3.5 nm) and showed good biocompatibility, a lower r2:r1 ratio (1.06), and strong absorption in the visible near-infrared region. T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of tumor-bearing mice before and after intratumoral injection with GA-Fe@BSA NPs definitively demonstrated positive change. In a subsequent in vivo study, antitumor activity was precipitated by intratumoral injection of GA-Fe@BSA NPs combined with laser treatment, suggesting excellent outcomes with this treatment method. These results describe a successful protocol in which BSA regulated the synthesis of benign organic polymer NPs. GA-Fe@BSA NPs have the potential to be ideal agents to be used in clinical theranostic nanoplatforms.

Concentration effect on large scale synthesis of high quality small gold nanorods and their potential role in cancer theranostics

Cancer theranostics agents, such as gold nanorods, represent great potential in cancer therapy. However, the big size and the low yield of the gold nanorods reported previously have limited their clinical translation. Therefore, it is significant to develop a new method to prepare the small gold nanorods (width <8 nm) at larger scale. In this report, a modified seedless method was proposed based on the effect of precursor concentration assisted synthesis of high quality small gold nanorods at large scale. The obtained small gold nanorods exhibit high quality and dimension of (18 ± 5 nm) × (5 ± 1 nm). After modified with biological compatibility reagents, the small gold nanorods behave excellent photoacoustic imaging and photo-thermal therapy ability. These results manifest that the obtained small gold nanorods not only realize the improvements of previously limitations, also are thus supposed to pave the way to cancer theranostics in clinic application.

Paclitaxel-Induced Ultrasmall Gallic Acid-Fe@BSA Self-Assembly with Enhanced MRI Performance and Tumor Accumulation for Cancer Theranostics

Ultrasmall nanoparticles have attracted great attention because of their efficient renal clearance. However, their bioapplication is still severely hampered by the poor performance derived from low tumor accumulation. Here, a large, self-assembled nanoparticle was designed for cancer theranostics and used with paclitaxel (PTX) to assemble bovine serum albumin-coated ultrasmall gallic acid-Fe(III) (GA-Fe@BSA-PTX) nanoparticles by the hydrophobic effect. The GA-Fe@BSA-PTX self-assembled nanoparticles featured appropriate size (∼115 nm), high water dispersity and stability, and low cell toxicity. Importantly, the magnetic resonance imaging performance and tumor accumulation of GA-Fe@BSA-PTX self-assembled nanoparticles were much better than those of the ultrasmall GA-Fe@BSA nanoparticles. Furthermore, the GA-Fe@BSA-PTX self-assembled nanoparticles exhibited an excellent therapeutic effect on tumors, owing to the combined chemo- and photothermal effects. This work highlights the great potential of the as-synthesized GA-Fe@BSA-PTX self-assembled nanoparticles as a multifunctional theranostic nanoplatform, offering compelling opportunities for theranostic applications in the clinic.

Ultra-small WO3-x@γ-Poly-L-glutamic acid nanoparticles as a photoacoustic imaging and effective photothermal-enhanced chemodynamic therapy agent for cancer

Synergistic treatment strategies for cancer have attracted increasing attention owing to their enhanced therapeutic effects compared with monotherapy. Chemodynamic therapy (CDT) is an emerging and thriving in situ treatment for cancer owing to its high regioselectivity and activation only by endogenous substances. However, the therapeutic effects of CDT are hindered by low reaction speeds. Here, ultrasmall WO3- x@γ-poly-l-glutamic acid (WO3- x@γ-PGA) nanoparticles (NPs) with good photoacoustic and photothermal properties were prepared, and their chemodynamic performance based on a Fenton-like reaction was explored due to its good catalytic effect. The synergistic treatment effect was also investigated by photothermal-enhanced CDT based on single WO3- x@γ-PGA NPs using a penetrating near-infrared-II laser both in vitro and in vivo. This work provides an effective treatment for cancer and further develops the CDT.