Preparation of core/shell CdTe@hMSN for enhanced tumor vasculature-specific drug delivery.

Dongzhi Yang,Na Wang,Haixia Ji,Jingjing Dong,Shian Sun,Yuanyuan Zhong,Chuntong Qian,Huanghuang Xu

doi:10.1039/c8ra07193d

Abstract

Due to excellent optical properties, CdTe quantum dots (QDs) exhibit great potential in cancer imaging. However, CdTe QDs can be quickly cleared out before reaching the desired location because of their ultra-small size. The structure and optical properties of CdTe QDs are also easily affected by the surrounding solution, which leads to their compromised applications in vivo. Here, CdTe QDs were incorporated into hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (hMSN) to form CdTe@hMSN nano-platforms. The as-synthesized system maintained the excellent emission properties of CdTe QDs; meanwhile, relatively high drug loading efficiency was also observed for doxorubicin (DOX). With the target for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the formed CdTe@hMSN(DOX)–VEGF Abs showed feasibility of tumor-oriented drug delivery and CdTe@hMSN conjugate accumulation. The high accumulation and enhanced targeted drug delivery of CdTe@hMSN conjugates in tumor nodules confirmed that CdTe@hMSN conjugates can serve as promising candidates for cancer detection and treatment.

Highlights

With the fast development of nanoscience and nanotechnology, a variety of nanoparticles have been developed as drug delivery systems[1,2,3] due to their unique properties such as tunable size, well-de ned optical and surface properties and excellent biocompatibility
The sizes obtained from dynamic light scattering (DLS) curve were larger than that obtained from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images, which resulted from the hydration of NPs in aqueous solution
The successful surface engineering was further validated by zpotential measurements, as shown in Fig. 2E, in which a signi cant change in surface charge was observed a er SCMPEG5k-Mal coating (z-potential: from 3.49 Æ 0.31 mV to À41.40 Æ 2.3 mV)

Summary

Introduction

With the fast development of nanoscience and nanotechnology, a variety of nanoparticles have been developed as drug delivery systems[1,2,3] due to their unique properties such as tunable size, well-de ned optical and surface properties and excellent biocompatibility. Ex vivo experiments (e.g., distribution and histology) were performed on mice bearing HeLa tumors to demonstrate VEGF speci city of VEGF Abs-conjugated CdTe@hMSN. Two uorescence emission peaks of CdTe@hMSN and DOX con rmed the successful drug loading in CdTe@hMSN(DOX)– VEGF Abs. The DLS results in Fig. 2D indicated that the size of CdTe@hMSN conjugates increased slightly a er surface modi cation with SCM-PEG5k-MAL and VEGF Abs from ca.

Results

Conclusion