Gadolinium(III) Porphyrinoid Phototheranostics.

Molecular phototheranostics as an emerging field of modern precision medicine has recently attracted increasing research attention owing to non-invasiveness, high precision, and controllable nature of light. In this work, we reported promising gadolinium (Gd3+ ) porphyrinoids as phototheranostic agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and photodynamic therapy (PDT). The synthesized Gd-1-4-Glu featured with meso-glycosylation and ß-lactonization to endow good biocompatibility and improved photophysical properties. In particular, ß-lactonization of glycosylated Gd3+ porphyrinoids substantially red-shifted Q band absorption to near-infrared (NIR) region and boosted generation of reactive oxygen species including 1 O2 , and some radical species that engaged in both type II and type I PDT pathways. In addition, the number and regioisomerism of ß-oxazolone moieties was observed to play an essential role in improving longitude relaxivity (r1 ) of Gd-1-4-Glu of up to 4.3±0.2 mM-1 s-1 by affecting environmental water exchange. Taking Gd-4-Glu as a promising complex, we further achieved real-time T1 -weighted MRI and PDT on HeLa tumour mice in vivo, revealing the appealing potential of Gd3+ porphyrinoids in phototheranostics.

Near-infrared laser-triggered drug release in a tellurium nanosystem for simultaneous chemo-photothermal cancer therapy.

Tumor cells can be selectively killed by heat application based on the different tolerances of normal cells and tumor cells to temperature. However, the limited clinical application of photothermal therapy (PTT) is mainly due to various practical implementation difficulties, of which the most important is how to fully heat the tumor. The combination of PTT and chemotherapy can synergistically enhance cell membrane permeability and reduce the dose of chemotherapy drugs to not only effectively kill the tumor but also reduce the damage to normal tissues. It is of great significance to develop materials that can be simultaneously used for tumor PTT and chemotherapy. Therefore, in this study, a functionalized tellurium (Te) nanosystem (DOX/PEI@TeNPs) was prepared to achieve chemo-photothermal cancer combination therapy. Our research showed that the DOX/PEI@TeNP morphology was controllable, and it had good photothermal conversion efficiency and light stability. Moreover, DOX/PEI@TeNPs containing doxorubicin (DOX) showed almost no drug release in normal tissues and neutral-pH environments, while in tumor cells and tissues, it massively released DOX to kill cancer cells. The as-synthesized DOX/PEI@TeNP system can produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) under near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation and features a high photothermal conversion efficiency due to its strong NIR absorbance. Therefore, this study provides an effective strategy for the effective design of nano-drugs, which can be used for the accurate chemical-photothermal synergistic therapy of tumors.

A highly hemocompatible erythrocyte membrane-coated ultrasmall selenium nanosystem for simultaneous cancer radiosensitization and precise antiangiogenesis.

Radiotherapy is a vitally important strategy for clinical treatment of malignant cancers. Therefore, rational design and development of radiosensitizers that could enhance radiotherapeutic efficacy has attracted tremendous attention. Antiangiogenesis therapy could be a potentially effective strategy to regulate tumor growth and metastasis due to angiogenesis plays a pivotal role for tumor growth, invasion and metastasis to other organs. Herein, we have rationally designed a smart and effective nanosystem by combining ultrasmall selenium nanoparticles and bevacizumab (Avastin™, Av), for simultaneous radiotherapy and antiangiogenic therapy of cancer. The nanosystem was further coated with red blood cell (RBC) membranes to develop the final construct, RBCs@Se/Av. The RBC membrane coating effectively prolongs the blood circulation time and reduces the elimination of the nanosystem by autoimmune responses. As expected, RBCs@Se/Av, when irradiated with X-ray demonstrated potent anticancer and antiangiogenesis response in vitro and in vivo, as evidenced by strong inhibition of A375 tumor growth in nude mice, without causing any obvious histological damage to the non-target major organs. Taken together, this study demonstrates an effective strategy for design of smart Se-based nanosystem decorated with RBC membrane for simultaneous cancer radiosensitization and precise antiangiogenesis.