Cancer Theranostic Applications Research Articles

Reduced cytotoxicity of CTAB-templated silica layer on gold nanorod using fluorescence dyes and its application in cancer theranostics

Cytotoxicity of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-templated silica-coated gold nanorod (CGNR@SiO2) was confirmed to be severe even after the washing process because of the residual CTAB surfactant. Calcination to eliminate the CTAB template induced dissolution of the gold nanorod (GNR) core and caused a blue-shift in the longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) mode of the GNR from the near-infrared to visible wavelength. In contrast, the CTAB template was effectively removed from CGNR@SiO2 without interference of the plasmonic property of the core GNR by amine-functionalized fluorescence dyes such as methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RB). The RB was more efficient in substituting the residual CTAB through electrostatic interactions than the MB. Moreover, the resulting products exhibited excellent surface-enhanced Raman scattering performance to detect a few cancer cells. The MB and RB molecules as visible light photosensitizer (PS) were activated by near-infrared (NIR) excitation light through transfer of the NIR-driven plasmonic hot electrons from the core GNR to the PS molecules. It is noteworthy that the RB-loaded CGNR@SiO2 exhibited excellent cancer cell killing efficiency via generation of abundant reactive oxygen species (ROS) under NIR laser irradiation, although the concentration of the intracellular GNR was too low to induce the photothermal effect.

AIE materials for cancer cell detection, bioimaging and theranostics.

AIE materials exhibit weakly emissive or non-emissive properties in dilute solutions while emit powerful fluorescence in the aggregated/solid state. Recently, AIE based materials have gained immense attention due to their multifunctional role in cancer cell detection, bioimaging and cancer theranostics. In this present book chapter, we will highlight recent advancements of AIE materials for different cancer theranostics applications.

AIE active polymers for biological applications.

The discovery of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) phenomenon, significantly altered the understanding of the scientific world about the luminophore aggregation. Polymers with AIE features have recently emerged as promising materials with wide range of applications in optoelectronics devices, chemosensors, bioimaging, cancer theranostics and drug delivery. By introducing the AIE active molecule into the polymer structure, novel materials encompassing the characteristics properties of both the functional materials such as excellent brightness, versatile structure modification, high biocompatibility, exceptional stability and facile processability are achieved. This chapter presents the advances in synthetic design as well as potential biological applications of AIE active polymers, beginning with a brief introduction to the AIE phenomenon. The versatile synthetic route, easier functionalization, and light up feature of the AIE active polymers offer direct visualization of the physiological processes within or outside the living organisms. This chapter also precisely describes the photodynamic therapy/photothermal therapy (PDT/PTT) with up-to-date advancement of AIE active polymer and their emerging applications in biomedical field. The AIE active Photosensitizers (PSs) are much more efficient in singlet oxygen (1O2) production than their small molecule AIE active PSs due to their enhanced inter system crossing (ISC) process and improved light-harvesting ability. Additionally, the present chapter aims to focus on all recent AIE active polymers for drug screening and drug delivery. The AIE active polymer often shows decent drug loading capacity, high stability and good biocompatibility comprising image guided drug monitoring features. Lastly, the concluding discussion reveals the future prospective of the AIE active polymers.

Tailor made magnetic nanolights: fabrication to cancer theranostics applications.

Nanoparticles having magnetic and fluorescent properties could be considered as a gift to materials scientists due to their unique magneto-optical qualities. Multiple component particles can overcome challenges related with a single component and unveil bifunctional/multifunctional features that can enlarge their applications in diagnostic imaging agents and therapeutic delivery vehicles. Bifunctional nanoparticles that have both luminescent and magnetic features are termed as magnetic nanolights. Herein, we present recent progress of magneto-fluorescent nanoparticles (quantum dots based magnetic nanoparticles, Janus particles, and heterocrystalline fluorescent magnetic materials), comprehensively describing fabrication strategies, types, and biomedical applications. In this review, our aim is not only to encompass the preparation strategies of these special types of magneto-fluorescent nanomaterials but also their extensive applications in bioimaging techniques, cancer therapy (targeted and hyperthermic), and sustained release of active agents (drugs, proteins, antibodies, hormones, enzymes, growth factors).

Recent advances of high performance magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles: Controlled synthesis, properties tuning and cancer theranostics

AbstractRecently, magnetic nanomaterials have emerged as multifunctional materials for a wide range of biomedical applications. Functional magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (FMIONs) are typical magnetic nanomaterials with inherent advantages for disease diagnosis, prevention, and treatment: high specific surface area, excellent superparamagnetism, good colloidal stability, and remarkable biosafety. Therefore, FMION‐based biomedicine has advanced at an unprecedented rate in recent years. However, the performance of FMIONs cannot yet meet complicated physiological circumstances. To overcome these limitations, researchers have designed and manipulated the geometric shapes, sizes, compositions, and surfaces to endow these FMIONs with high performance. This review summarizes recent advances in the controlled synthesis of FMIONs, cover corresponding theories of nucleation and growth in solution, and the tuning of FMION properties for disease diagnosis and therapy. After discussing the biomedical applications in cancer theranostics—tumor hyperthermia, magnetic resonance imaging and drug delivery system—in detail, the review concludes with current challenges and outlooks for the development of FMIONs.

Glutathione-triggered non-template synthesized porous carbon nanospheres serve as low toxicity targeted delivery system for cancer multi-therapy

Nanomaterial based drug delivery system have received great attention in clinical application due to their high therapeutic efficacy and lower side effects than classical method, multi-functional nanomaterial also have shown the excellent performance at cancer theranostic and durg tracking in vivo and in vitro. However, most of these works are influenced by the bio-toxicity of applied nanomaterials, which could influence the diagnostic results and treatment effect. Therefore, we have prepared a high biocompatibility porous carbon nanospheres (PCNs) based nano-system (PCN-siRNA-DOX-FA) for targeted drug delivery and theranostic. The surface modifications have increased dispersion and stability of the PCNs, and folic acid (FA) had enhanced the active target ability for FA receptor positive cell lines. Moreover, through the siRNA structure and doxorubicin (DOX) loading, biological and chemical combined multi-therapy was achieved in cancerous cells. This constructed nano-system could positively improve the biotoxicity problem of nanomaterial and provide a potential platform for clinical cancer theranostic applications.

Theranostics: A Boon in Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy

Modern approaches in improvement of new nanomaterials have gained enormous attention due to various biomedical application, along with cancer theranostics. The characteristic physico-chemical feature of these materials, including their small size and wide-range surface-to-volume ratio provide potentiality for cancer theranostics that combine diagnosis , biosensing , imaging detection and immune therapy.Recent procurement for cancer immunotherapy have gained considerable attention in controlling the body’s immune system to fight against cancer.In this abstract , nanomedicine with inherent immunomodulatory properties presents interesting window(of opportunity) which can stimulate the function of immune cell. The goal is to cover broad range of information about the immunomodulation properties of nanomedicine in cancer theranostics i.e factors like pH, hypoxia, tumor angiogenesis, tumor extracellular matrix which have a huge role in the immunomodulation of nanomedicine and also strategies to enhance cancer theranostics applications. According to recent studies, cancer therapy can be potentially improved through nanoparticle based immunotherapy.

Biodegradable Fe-Doped Vanadium Disulfide Theranostic Nanosheets for Enhanced Sonodynamic/Chemodynamic Therapy.

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT), a noninvasive and highly penetrating tumor therapy, which employs ultrasound and sonosensitizers, has attracted extensive attention because of its ability to treat deep tumors. However, many current sonosensitizers have drawbacks in phototoxicity and limited sonodynamic effect. Herein, as a novel kind of sonosensitizer, iron-doped vanadium disulfide nanosheets (Fe-VS2 NSs) are constructed by a high-temperature organic-solution method and further modified with polyethylene glycol (PEG). With Fe doping, the sonodynamic effect of Fe-VS2 NSs is greatly enhanced, owing to the prolonged electron-hole recombination time. Simultaneously, such Fe-VS2-PEG NSs as a good Fenton agent can be utilized for chemodynamic therapy (CDT) by using the endogenous H2O2 in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Moreover, the multivalent Fe and V elements in the Fe-VS2 NSs can consume glutathione to amplify the reactive oxygen species-induced oxidative stress by SDT and CDT. Utilizing the strong near-infrared optical absorbance and enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) contrast by Fe-VS2 NSs, photoacoustic/MR biomodal imaging reveals a high accumulation of Fe-VS2-PEG NSs in the tumor. The great tumor suppression effect is then achieved by the in vivo combined CDT&SDT treatment. Importantly, most of the injected Fe-VS2-PEG NSs can be gradually decomposed and excreted from the mice, making them as safe sonosensitizers for cancer treatment. Our work highlights a new type of biodegradable sonosensitizer with the ability of regulating TME for applications in cancer theranostics.

Tumor microenvironment-activated self-charge-generable metallosupramolecular polymer nanocapsules for photoacoustic imaging-guided targeted synergistic photothermal-chemotherapy

An integrated nanosystem of target, visualization, high circulation stability, and multi-therapy effects represents the leading direction of next generation anti-cancer strategy. Nevertheless, this normally requires elegant multi-component and hierarchical structure design of nanomaterials, or even a complicated post-treatment procedure, to combine different functions together. Herein, we show that hollow metallosupramolecular polymer nanoparticles (HMPNs) derived from a selective-etching approach based on Kirkendall effect have combined capabilities of (i) facile in-situ guest cargo encapsulation, (ii) reversible surface charge evolution, (iii) excellent photoacoustic property and (vi) highly synergistic photothermal-chemo therapeutic effect. Using DOX as a model drug, we can easily fabricate DOX-HMPNs because the etching process is accompanied with effective matter exchange between outer environment and inner particle, while significantly avoiding the premature drug leakage. Notably, synergistic effect between reversible phenolic hydroxyl ionization and dynamic catechol-FeIII coordination endows DOX-HMPNs with dramatic self-charge generation ability, thus achieving weakly acidic tumor microenvironment-activated reversible surface charge evolution. We have found that DOX-HMPNs with this self-charge generation feature can effectively achieve prolonged circulation and tumor recognition. Moreover, the cleavage of imine bond can induce the disassembly of hollow particles in strongly acidic lysosomes, and thus accelerate the release of DOX. This chemotherapy, in combination with the cascade-responsive behavior and photothermal/photoacoustic properties of HMPNs, makes our DOX-HMPNs exhibit synergistic antitumor efficiency and provide promising potential for cancer theranostic application.

Polymer-Graphene Nanoassemblies and their Applications in Cancer Theranostics.

Graphene-based nanomaterials have received increasing attention due to their unique physical-chemical properties including two-dimensional planar structure, large surface area, chemical and mechanical stability, superconductivity and good biocompatibility. On the other hand, graphene-based nanomaterials have been explored as theranostics agents, the combination of therapeutics and diagnostics. In recent years, grafting hydrophilic polymer moieties have been introduced as an efficient approach to improve the properties of graphene-based nanomaterials and obtain new nanoassemblies for cancer therapy. This review would illustrate biodistribution, cellular uptake and toxicity of polymergraphene nanoassemblies and summarize part of successes achieved in cancer treatment using such nanoassemblies. The observations showed successful targeting functionality of the polymer-GO conjugations and demonstrated a reduction of the side effects of anti-cancer drugs for normal tissues.

Cu-In-S/ZnS@carboxymethylcellulose supramolecular structures: Fluorescent nanoarchitectures for targeted-theranostics of cancer cells

Although the field of oncology nanomedicine has shown indisputable progress in recent years, cancer remains one of the most lethal diseases, where the early diagnosis plays a pivotal role in the patient's prognosis and therapy. Herein, we report for the first time, the synthesis of biocompatible nanostructures composed of Cu-In-S and Cu-In-S/ZnS nanoparticles functionalized with carboxymethylcellulose biopolymer produced by a green aqueous process. These inorganic-organic colloidal nanohybrids developed supramolecular architectures stabilized by chemical functional groups of the polysaccharide shell with the fluorescent semiconductor nanocrystal core, which were extensively characterized by several morphological and spectroscopical techniques. Moreover, these nanoconjugates were covalently bonded with folic acid via amide bonds and electrostatically conjugated with the anticancer drug, producing functionalized supramolecular nanostructures. They demonstrated nanotheranostics properties for bioimaging and drug delivery vectorization effective for killing breast cancer cells in vitro. These hybrids offer a new nanoplatform using fluorescent polysaccharide-drug conjugates for cancer theranostics applications.

A New Pharmacokinetic Model Describing the Biodistribution of Intravenously and Intratumorally Administered Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPIONs) in a GL261 Xenograft Glioblastoma Model.

BackgroundSuperparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have displayed multifunctional applications in cancer theranostics following systemic delivery. In an effort to increase the therapeutic potential of local therapies (including focal hyperthermia), nanoparticles can also be administered intratumorally. Therefore, the development of a reliable pharmacokinetic model for the prediction of nanoparticle distribution for both clinically relevant routes of delivery is of high importance.Materials and MethodsThe biodistribution of SPIONs (of two different sizes – 130 nm and 60 nm) radiolabeled with zirconium-89 or technetium-99m following intratumoral or intravenous injection was investigated in C57/Bl6 mice bearing subcutaneous GL261 glioblastomas. Based on PET/CT biodistribution data, a novel pharmacokinetic model was established for a better understanding of the pharmacokinetics of the SPIONs after both administration routes.ResultsThe PET image analysis of the nanoparticles (confirmed by histology) demonstrated the presence of radiolabeled nanoparticles within the glioma site (with low amounts in the liver and spleen) at all investigated time points following intratumoral injection. The mathematical model confirmed the dynamic nanoparticle redistribution in the organism over a period of 72 h with an equilibrium reached after 100 h. Intravenous injection of nanoparticles demonstrated a different distribution pattern with a rapid particle retention in all organs (particularly in liver and spleen) and a subsequent slow release rate.ConclusionThe mathematical model demonstrated good agreement with experimental data derived from tumor mouse models suggesting the value of this tool to predict the real-time pharmacokinetic features of SPIONs in vivo. In the future, it is planned to adapt our model to other nanoparticle formulations to more precisely describe their biodistribution in in vivo model systems.

Nanoparticles weaponized with built‐in functions for imaging‐guided cancer therapy

AbstractImaging‐guided cancer therapy (IGCT) is rapidly emerging as a powerful precision cancer theranostic paradigm, as it can offer both diagnostic information and therapeutic benefits. But it relies on advanced theranostic agents that are largely constructed on top of nanomaterials. Conventionally, such theranostic agents are constructed by integrating different functional units, which will unnecessarily increase the size of the multi‐functional agents and inevitably encounter unwanted disassociation of the functional units in vivo, leading to false diagnosis and poor therapeutic efficacy. In this review, we highlight the state‐of‐the‐art progresses in biomedical applications of nanomaterials possessing built‐in functions suitable for cancer theranostic applications, particularly those who can convert near‐infrared (NIR) light into heat or radicals, as phototherapy holds remarkable promise for high‐precision cancer therapy. In addition, phototherapy can naturally be combined with photoacoustic imaging for realizing imaging‐guided therapy. In this context, the interactions between NIR and nanomaterials are classified and outlined. Then, different approaches for boosting imaging sensitivity and therapeutic efficacy, by improving the utilization of NIR light through different mechanisms, are discussed. Through examples on delineation and treatment of tumors in vivo, the opportunities and benefits of the theranostic nanoprobes for IGCT are highlighted. Moreover, the current challenges and future perspectives regarding both fundamental studies and clinical translation of the NIR‐mediated cancer theranostic agents are discussed.

Functionalization of bismuth sulfide nanomaterials for their application in cancer theranostics

Multifunctional bismuth sulfide (Bi2S3) nanomaterials exhibit significant potential as nanomedicines for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. These nanomaterials act as excellent photothermal agents and radiation sensitizers for the treatment of tumors, and they can also act as contrast agents for computed tomography (CT) imaging, photoacoustic imaging (PA), and other forms of imaging to provide real-time tumor monitoring and testing guidance. Compared with other nanomaterials, Bi2S3 nanomaterials can readily adapt to different applications by virtue of the fact that they can be easily functionalized. However, these nanomaterials have some limitations that cannot be ignored and need to be addressed, such as poor biocompatibility, toxicity, and low chemical stability. It is widely believed that appropriate functionalization of Bi2S3 nanomaterials could remedy such defects and significantly improve performance. This review summarizes the ways in which Bi2S3 nanomaterials can be functionalized and discusses their applications in cancer theranostics over the last few years, focusing particularly on imaging and therapy. We also discuss issues relating to how Bi2S3 nanomaterials can be analyzed, including how we might be able to use these systems to inhibit and treat tumors and how current limitations might be overcome to improve treatment efficacy. Finally, we hope to provide inspiration and guidance as to how we might create a more optimized multifunctional nano-system for the diagnosis and treatment of tumors.

Emerging Antineoplastic Biogenic Gold Nanomaterials for Breast Cancer Therapeutics: A Systematic Review.

Breast cancer remains as a concerning global health issue, being the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the United States (US) in 2019. Therefore, there is an urgent and substantial need to explore novel strategies to combat breast cancer. A potential solution may come from the use of cancer nanotechnology, an innovative field of study which investigates the potential of nanomaterials for cancer diagnosis, therapy, and theranostic applications. Consequently, the theranostic functionality of cancer nanotechnology has been gaining much attention between scientists during the past few years and is growing exponentially. The use of biosynthesized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has been explored as an efficient mechanism for the treatment of breast cancer. The present study supposed a global systematic review to evaluate the effectiveness of biogenic AuNPs for the treatment of breast cancer and their anticancer molecular mechanisms through in vitro studies. Online electronic databases, including Cochrane, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, ProQuest, and Embase, were searched for the articles published up to July 16, 2019. Our findings revealed that plant-mediated synthesis was the most common approach for the generation of AuNPs. Most of the studies reported spherical or nearly spherical-shaped AuNPs with a mean diameter less than 100 nm in size. A significantly larger cytotoxicity was observed when the biogenic AuNPs were tested towards breast cancer cells compared to healthy cells. Moreover, biogenic AuNPs demonstrated significant synergistic activity in combination with other anticancer drugs through in vitro studies. Although we provided strong and comprehensive preliminary in vitro data, further in vivo investigations are required to show the reliability and efficacy of these NPs in animal models.

Versatile activatable vSIRPα-probe for cancer-targeted imaging and macrophage-mediated phagocytosis of cancer cells

Signal-regulatory protein alpha (SIRPα) engaged by CD47, that is overexpressed in a wide range of human solid tumors, serves as a ‘Don't eat me’ signal for phagocytic cells such as macrophages and dendritic cells. The SIRPα-CD47 interactions have recently attracted increasing attention in both cancer diagnosis and cancer immunotherapy. Herein, we designed and suggested a lysosomal enzyme-activatable vSIRPα-probe (vSIRPα-probe) capable of facilitating CD47-targeted cancer imaging and eliciting anti-cancer immune responses depending on phagocytosis as a versatile platform for potential cancer theranostic applications. For more efficient and precise cancer targeting, a recombinant SIRPα variant (vSIRPα) having a 50,000-fold higher binding affinity to CD47 than wild-type SIRPα was used to fabricate the vSIRPα-probe by conjugating to a dark-quenched fluorogenic peptide that is a substrate of lysosomal endopeptidases. The vSIRPα-probe could specifically bind to CD47 in different types of cancer cells and be activated by dequenching after cellular internalization. By interrupting the SIRPα-CD47 interaction between macrophages and cancer cells, the vSIRPα-probe promoted the destruction of cancer cells by macrophage-mediated phagocytosis, which was highly comparable to the un-modified vSIRPα recombinant protein. In the mouse tumor-xenografts treated with intravenous injection of the vSIRPα-probe, its enhanced in vivo tumor-targeting and imaging abilities drastically diminished after blocking the SIRPα-CD47 interaction via intratumoral administration of anti-CD47 antibodies. This study demonstrates that our vSIRPα-probe provides a promising tumor-targeted immunotheranostic probe for a novel cancer diagnostic and therapeutic strategy.

Self-Assembled DNA Nanostructures-Based Nanocarriers Enabled Functional Nucleic Acids Delivery.

Nucleic acids are recognized as the blueprints of life and the repositories of genetic information, which play essential roles in the "central dogma of molecular biology". As classical and specific nucleic acids, apart from carrying genetic information, functional nucleic acids (FNAs) perform many intriguing functions such as targeted recognition, therapy and enzymatic catalysis. FNAs with excellent biocompatibility provide great promise for future applications in bioanalysis, material science, and nanotechnology. Nevertheless, effective delivery of FNAs to the targeted location still suffers from one or more challenges, especially in the field of biomedicine. Encouragingly, DNA nanotechnology shows great potential for applications in bioimaging, biosensing, and molecules delivery. Importantly, it provides an unprecedented opportunity to design and synthesize a series of self-assembled DNA nanostructures with well-defined size, shape, surface chemistry, and function. Through Watson-Crick base-pairing rules, FNAs, including aptamers, DNAzymes, small interfere RNA (siRNA), antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), and unmethylated cytosine-phosphate-guanine dinucleotide oligonucleotides (CpG ODNS), are successfully decorated with self-assembled DNA nanostructures for delivery. In this progress report, we focus on self-assembled DNA nanostructures-based nanocarriers to deliver FNAs for applications in cellular analysis and cancer theranostics. First, we briefly summarize the superior properties of the prospective nanocarriers and introduce the self-assembled DNA nanostructures. Then we mainly highlight the most recent achievements of self-assembled DNA nanostructures as comers for the delivery of FNAs. Finally, this review points to some of the current challenges in the applications of self-assembled DNA nanostructures as FNAs nanocarriers and provides an insight into the future perspectives of self-assembled DNA nanostructures-based nanocarriers for FNAs delivery.

Photosynthetic Biohybrid Nanoswimmers System to Alleviate Tumor Hypoxia for FL/PA/MR Imaging‐Guided Enhanced Radio‐Photodynamic Synergetic Therapy

AbstractBiohybrid microswimmers have recently shown to be able to actively perform in targeted delivery and in vitro biomedical applications. However, more envisioned functionalities of the microswimmers aimed at in vivo treatments are still challenging. A photosynthetic biohybrid nanoswimmers system (PBNs), magnetic engineered bacteria‐Spirulina platensis, is utilized for tumor‐targeted imaging and therapy. The engineered PBNs is fabricated by superparamagnetic magnetite (Fe3O4 NPs) via a dip‐coating process, enabling its tumor targeting ability and magnetic resonance imaging property after intravenous injection. It is found that the PBNs can be used as oxygenerator for in situ O2 generations in hypoxic solid tumors through photosynthesis, modulating the tumor microenvironment (TME), thus improving the effectiveness of radiotherapy (RT). Furthermore, the innate chlorophyll released from the RT‐treated PBNs, as a photosensitizer, can produce cytotoxic reactive oxygen species under laser irradiation to achieve photodynamic therapy. Excellent tumor inhibition can be realized by the combined multimodal therapies. The PBNs also possesses capacities of chlorophyll‐based fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging, which can monitor the tumor therapy and tumor TME environment. These intriguing properties of the PBNs provide a promising microrobotic platform for TME hypoxic modulation and cancer theranostic applications.

Photothermally enhanced photodynamic therapy based on glutathione-responsive pheophorbide a-conjugated gold nanorod formulations for cancer theranostic applications

Nanocarriers have provided a new platform for the selective delivery of therapeutic agents into targeted cells and tissues using safe, efficient, and tractable routes. In particular, the integration of multiple therapeutic/diagnostic modalities into a single system has the great potential of enhancing theranostic efficiency against serious diseases with reduced side effects. In this study, a new light-triggered theranostic system using photosensitizer-conjugated gold nanorods (AuNR) with glutathione (GSH)-sensitive linkages was developed for cancer imaging and combinational phototherapy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) to achieve a synergistic cancer treatment. AuNRs with various aspect ratios were prepared as photothermal agents, and then a folic acid (FA)-PEG block copolymer (FAP) and pheophorbide a (Pheo) were chemically conjugated to the surface of AuNRs for active tumor targeting and PDT, respectively. The configuration of Pheo-conjugated AuNR nanocarriers has been precisely controlled through adjusting the feed composition ratio and the relationship between aspect ratio and absorption band of AuNRs. In particular, an AuNR with an aspect ratio of 3.84 and longitudinal plasmon resonance at 873nm (Pheo-conjugated AuNR100) exhibited superior performance in singlet oxygen generation, photothermal conversion effect, and GSH-mediated selective release of Pheo. Moreover, it also showed tumor targeting activity and a PDT-PTT synergistic effect. These results indicate that this multifunctional AuNR system with tumor targeting ability and GSH-sensitive linkages would be highly efficient for noninvasive cancer treatment by integrating cancer imaging diagnostics and synergistic therapy.

Biomimetic Nanoparticles Camouflaged in Cancer Cell Membranes and Their Applications in Cancer Theranostics

Nanoparticles (NPs) camouflaged in cell membranes represent novel biomimetic platforms that can mimic some of the membrane functions of the cells from which these membranes are derived, in biological systems. Studies using cell membrane coated NPs cover a large repertoire of membranes derived from cells such as red blood cells, immune cells, macrophages, and cancer cells. Cancer cell membrane coated nanoparticles (CCMCNPs) typically consist of a NP core with a cancer cell plasma membrane coat that can carry tumor-specific receptors and antigens for cancer targeting. The NP core can serve as a vehicle to carry imaging and therapeutic moieties. As a result, these CCMCNPs are being investigated for multiple purposes including cancer theranostics. Here we have discussed the key steps and major issues in the synthesis and characterization of CCMCNPs. We have highlighted the homologous binding mechanisms of CCMCNPs that are being investigated for cancer targeting, and have presented our data that identify BT474 CCMCNPs as binding to multiple cancer cell lines. Current preclinical applications of CCMCNPs for cancer theranostics and their advantages and limitations are discussed.