TY - JOUR
T1 - NIR-II-driven and glutathione depletion-enhanced hypoxia-irrelevant free radical nanogenerator for combined cancer therapy
AU - Zhang, Li
AU - Fan, Yadi
AU - Yang, Zhe
AU - Yang, Mo
AU - Wong, Chun Yuen
N1 - Funding Information:
The work was supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong SAR (CityU 11305920, 11207117, T42-103/16-N and PolyU 15216917), City University of Hong Kong (7005096, 7005257) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC 31771077).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/9/6
Y1 - 2021/9/6
N2 - Background: Though the combination of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and chemodynamic therapy (CDT) appears to be very attractive in cancer treatment, hypoxia and overproduced glutathione (GSH) in the tumor microenvironment (TME) limit their efficacy for further application. Results: In this work, a smart hypoxia-irrelevant free radical nanogenerator (AIPH/PDA@CuS/ZIF-8, denoted as APCZ) was synthesized in situ via coating copper sulphide (CuS)-embedded zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) on the free radical initiator 2,2′-azobis[2-(2-imidazolin-2-yl)propane]-dihydrochloride (AIPH)-loaded polydopamine (PDA). APCZ showed promising GSH-depleting ability and near-infrared (NIR)-II photothermal performance for combined cancer therapy. Once internalized by 4T1 cells, the outer ZIF-8 was rapidly degraded to trigger the release of CuS nanoparticles (NPs), which could react with local GSH and sequentially hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to form hydroxyl radical (·OH) for CDT. More importantly, the hyperthermia generated by APCZ upon 1064 nm laser excitation not only permitted NIR-II photothermal therapy (PTT) and promoted CDT, but also triggered the decomposition of AIPH to give toxic alkyl radical (·R) for oxygen-independent PDT. Besides, the PDA together with CuS greatly decreased the GSH level and resulted in significantly enhanced PDT/CDT in both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. The tumors could be completely eradicated after 14 days of treatment due to the prominent therapeutic effects of PTT/PDT/CDT. Additionally, the feasibility of APCZ as a photoacoustic (PA) imaging contrast agent was also demonstrated. Conclusions: The novel APCZ could realize the cooperative amplification effect of free radicals-based therapies by NIR-II light excitation and GSH consumption, and act as a contrast agent to improve PA imaging, holding tremendous potential for efficient diagnosis and treatment of deep-seated and hypoxic tumors. Graphic abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
AB - Background: Though the combination of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and chemodynamic therapy (CDT) appears to be very attractive in cancer treatment, hypoxia and overproduced glutathione (GSH) in the tumor microenvironment (TME) limit their efficacy for further application. Results: In this work, a smart hypoxia-irrelevant free radical nanogenerator (AIPH/PDA@CuS/ZIF-8, denoted as APCZ) was synthesized in situ via coating copper sulphide (CuS)-embedded zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) on the free radical initiator 2,2′-azobis[2-(2-imidazolin-2-yl)propane]-dihydrochloride (AIPH)-loaded polydopamine (PDA). APCZ showed promising GSH-depleting ability and near-infrared (NIR)-II photothermal performance for combined cancer therapy. Once internalized by 4T1 cells, the outer ZIF-8 was rapidly degraded to trigger the release of CuS nanoparticles (NPs), which could react with local GSH and sequentially hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to form hydroxyl radical (·OH) for CDT. More importantly, the hyperthermia generated by APCZ upon 1064 nm laser excitation not only permitted NIR-II photothermal therapy (PTT) and promoted CDT, but also triggered the decomposition of AIPH to give toxic alkyl radical (·R) for oxygen-independent PDT. Besides, the PDA together with CuS greatly decreased the GSH level and resulted in significantly enhanced PDT/CDT in both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. The tumors could be completely eradicated after 14 days of treatment due to the prominent therapeutic effects of PTT/PDT/CDT. Additionally, the feasibility of APCZ as a photoacoustic (PA) imaging contrast agent was also demonstrated. Conclusions: The novel APCZ could realize the cooperative amplification effect of free radicals-based therapies by NIR-II light excitation and GSH consumption, and act as a contrast agent to improve PA imaging, holding tremendous potential for efficient diagnosis and treatment of deep-seated and hypoxic tumors. Graphic abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
KW - Alkyl radical
KW - Glutathione-depleting
KW - Hydroxyl radical
KW - Hypoxia-irrelevant
KW - NIR-II photothermal therapy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114273153&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12951-021-01003-2
DO - 10.1186/s12951-021-01003-2
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 34488803
AN - SCOPUS:85114273153
SN - 1477-3155
VL - 19
JO - Journal of Nanobiotechnology
JF - Journal of Nanobiotechnology
IS - 1
M1 - 265
ER -
