Abstract
Effectively prolonging the residence time of nanoprobes in the tumor region and reducing the accumulation of nanoprobes in the vital organs (for example, lung, liver and spleen) is crucial for high-efficiency photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer. Herein, we systematically report an ultra-small and highly stable nanoplatform with diameters of 4, 8 and 13 nm that exhibited excellent photodynamic therapeutic efficacy using Fe3O4@polymer-NPO/PEG-Glc@Ce6 nanoprobes. Based on the small size effect, the nanoprobes displayed lower cytotoxicity and excellent biocompatibility. Owing to the synergistic virtues of markedly active targeting and intrinsic small size effect, the Fe3O4@P-NPO/PEG-Glc@Ce6 nanoprobes can effectively prolong their residence time in the tumor region and reduce accumulation in the normal organs. Benefitting from the small size effect, the synthesized Fe3O4@P-NPO/PEG-Glc@Ce6 nanoprobes exhibited excellent tumor-targeting capability and photodynamic therapeutic efficacy by inhibiting the growth of tumors in mice under visible red light irradiation with a relatively lower power. The successful application of the small size effect in Fe3O4@P-NPO/PEG-Glc@Ce6 nanoprobes to significantly improve the PDT efficiency in our strategy suggests new building blocks for PDT of tumors and paves a new way for clinical therapies and translation in the near future.
Highlights
To further enhance drug retention in tumor tissues and decrease toxicity to vital organs in vivo, the development of multifunctional integrated nanoparticle systems for effective cancer diagnosis/treatment has been extensively studied in the past few years.[1,2] Among them, photodynamic therapy (PDT) is one promising and effective strategy for clinical therapies because near-infrared light is used as an external stimulus, which has many merits, such as simple operation, easy focusing on a targeted region, and the lowest damage to peripheral normal skin and tissues.[3]
We found that the Fe3O4@P-NPO/PEGGlc@chlorin e6 (Ce6) nanoprobes can effectively prolong the residence time in the tumor region and reduce accumulation in the vital organs, including lung, liver and spleen 3 days post injection
Iron(III) acetylacetonate (Fe(acac)3), oleylamine, oleic acid, benzyl ether, phenyl ether, chloroform, N-Boc-ethylenediamine, N-hydroxysuccinimide, chlorin e6 (Ce6) and 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride were obtained from Aladdin reagent Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China); glycidol, dioxane, NaH and NaHCO3 were obtained from the Sinopharm
Summary
Treatment has been extensively studied in the past few years.[1,2] Among them, photodynamic therapy (PDT) is one promising and effective strategy for clinical therapies because near-infrared light is used as an external stimulus, which has many merits, such as simple operation, easy focusing on a targeted region, and the lowest damage to peripheral normal skin and tissues.[3] In the presence of photosensitizer molecules, near-infrared light can effectively stimulate these agents and thereafter generate singlet oxygen to enhance irreversible damage to tumor cells.[4] the application of singlet oxygen to directly kill cancer cells is a noninvasive and repeatable therapy for cancer.[5]. Some intrinsic obstacles of free photosensitizers, such as photostability, water-insolubility and poor pharmacokinetics, and especially the poor targeting accumulation in tumor tissues, has hindered the clinical application of PDT in the past few years.[6]. The development of an effective strategy to improve the targeting efficiency of photosensitizers to tumor tissues is highly desired
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
