Magnetic Prussian Blue Nanoparticles Research Articles

Novel magnetic Prussian Blue nanoparticles for in vivo T1 MR-imaging

Novel magnetic Prussian Blue nanoparticles for in vivo T1 MR-imaging

Indocyanine Green-Conjugated Magnetic Prussian Blue Nanoparticles for Synchronous Photothermal/Photodynamic Tumor Therapy

Indocyanine green (ICG) is capable of inducing a photothermal effect and the production of cytotoxic reactive oxygen species for cancer therapy. However, the major challenge in applying ICG molecules for antitumor therapy is associated with their instability in aqueous conditions and rapid clearance from blood circulation, which causes insufficient bioavailability at the tumor site. Herein, we conjugated ICG molecules with Prussian blue nanoparticles enclosing a Fe3O4 nanocore, which was facilitated by cationic polyethyleneimine via electrostatic adsorption. The nanocarrier-loaded ICG formed stable aggregates that enhanced cellular uptake and prevented fluorescence quenching. Moreover, the strong superparamagnetism of the Fe3O4 core in the obtained nanocomposites further improved cellular internalization of the drugs guided by a localized magnetic field. The therapeutic efficacy of this nanoplatform was evaluated using tumor models established in nude mice, which demonstrated remarkable tumor ablation in vivo due to strong photothermal/photodynamic effects. This study provides promising evidence that this multifunctional nanoagent might function as an efficient mediator for combining photothermal and photodynamic cancer therapy.

Magnetically-targeted and near infrared fluorescence/magnetic resonance/photoacoustic imaging-guided combinational anti-tumor phototherapy based on polydopamine-capped magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles.

In recent years, Prussian blue (PB)-based nanoagents have become a new platform in photothermal cancer treatment. However, there is little research for PB-based nanoagents to achieve synergistic phototherapy guided by multimodal imaging diagnosis and monitoring. Herein, a novel single wavelength near infrared (NIR) laser-induced magnetically targeted theranostic nanoplatform has been successfully designed and synthesized for the first time based on polydopamine (PDA)/aluminum phthalocyanine (AlPc)/bovine serum albumin (BSA) coated magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles (Fe3O4@PB NPs) for multiple imaging-guided combinatorial cancer therapy. The resultant multifunctional Fe3O4@PB@PDA/AlPc/BSA nanocomposites show excellent stability and superparamagnetism, facilitating them to achieve superior photothermal therapy in physiological environments under magnetic guidance. In addition, the delivery vehicles can remarkably increase tumor accumulation of AlPc, thus leading to an enhanced photodynamic therapy efficacy. Furthermore, Fe3O4@PB@PDA/AlPc/BSA can be utilized as a multimodality nanoprobe for simultaneous diversified imaging, including near-infrared fluorescence imaging (NIRFI), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and photoacoustic imaging (PAI). Most importantly, without noticeable dark toxicity, the obtained Fe3O4@PB@PDA/AlPc/BSA nanocomposites are able to significantly suppress tumor growth via combined photothermal and photodynamic therapies upon a single 660 nm laser irradiation, achieving a superior synergetic manner compared to monotherapy both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, our strategy provides Fe3O4@PB@PDA/AlPc/BSA nanocomposites for trimodality cancer imaging-guided synergistic therapy, with a great potential for new generation theranostics nanoagents.

PEGylated magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles as a multifunctional therapeutic agent for combined targeted photothermal ablation and pH-triggered chemotherapy of tumour cells

Multifunctional nanoagents have become popular and valuable pharmaceuticals for effective cancer treatment. Moreover, there is an increasing tendency to develop therapeutic agents with excellent biocompatibility, high efficiency, specific targeting and combinatorial treatment effects. In this study, we proposed a facile technique to synthesize PEGylated (polyethylene glycol modified) magnetic Prussian blue (PB) nanoparticles with encapsulated doxorubicin (DOX), abbreviated as Fe3O4@PB/PEG/DOX NPs, for combined targeted photothermal ablation and pH-triggered chemotherapy of tumour cells. The PEGylation of Fe3O4@PB core-shell structure was achieved through a thin-film hydration process; DOX was loaded into the nanocapsule via hydrophobic interactions. An in vitro study indicated increased drug release under acidic conditions, mimicking mild acidic tumour microenvironments. Additionally, the nanocomposites exhibited superparamagnetism, contributing to an improved therapeutic effect guided by a localized magnetic field. Cytotoxicity studies demonstrated outstanding photothermal-chemotherapy combinatorial effects on HeLa cells, attributed to the targeted photothermic effect mediated by the pH-triggered cellular uptake of DOX. Specifically, the viability of HeLa cells decreased to 8.5% after treatment with the nanoagent (DOX=10μgmL−1) and near infrared irradiation, indicating an evident tumour inhibition effect in vitro. This study presented a nanoplatform for efficient and targeted cancer treatment, which may lead to the development of multifunctional nanodrug vehicles for cancer therapy.

Drug "Pent-Up" in Hollow Magnetic Prussian Blue Nanoparticles for NIR-Induced Chemo-Photothermal Tumor Therapy with Trimodal Imaging.

The study reports a biocompatible smart drug delivery system based on a doxorubicin (DOX) blending phase-change material of 1-pentadecanol loaded hollow magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles, resulting in HMNP-PB@Pent@DOX. The system possesses concentration-dependent high thermogenesis (>50 °C) when applying a near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation only for 5 min. Furthermore, the system realizes near "zero release" of drug and is efficiently triggered by NIR for drug delivery in an "on" and "off" manner, thus inducing cell apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, the system clearly indicates tumor site with trimodal imaging of magnetic resonance imaging, photoacoustic tomography imaging, and infrared thermal imaging. Furthermore, the system achieves efficient chemo-photothermal combined tumor therapy in vivo with 808 nm laser irradiation for 5 min at 1.2 W cm-2 , revealing the good tumor inhibition effect comparing with those of chemotherapy or photothermal therapy alone. The system is also confirmed to be biocompatible in regard to the mortality rate.

Hyaluronic Acid Conjugated Magnetic Prussian Blue@Quantum Dot Nanoparticles for Cancer Theranostics

A multifunctional nanotheranostic agent was developed by conjugating both hyaluronic acid and bovine serum albumin coated CuInS2-ZnS quantum dots onto the surface of magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles. The obtained nanoagent could serve as an efficient contrast agent to simultaneously enhance near infrared (NIR) fluorescence and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging greatly. The coexistence of magnetic core and CD44 ligand hyaluronic acid was found to largely improve the specific uptake of the nanoagent by CD44 overexpressed HeLa cells upon applying an external magnetic field. Both NIR fluorescence and MR imaging in vivo proved high accumulation of the nanoagent at tumor site due to its excellent CD44 receptor/magnetic dual targeting capability. After intravenous injection of the nanoagent and treatment of external magnetic field, the tumor in nude mice was efficiently ablated upon NIR laser irradiation and the tumor growth inhibition was more than 89.95%. Such nanotheranostic agent is of crucial importance for accurately identifying the size and location of the tumor before therapy, monitoring the photothermal treatment procedure in real-time during therapy, assessing the effectiveness after therapy.

Functional magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles for enhanced gene transfection and photothermal ablation of tumor cells.

Gene therapy has been developed as an innovative therapeutic modality in the past few decades for treatment of various fatal diseases such as cancer. However, the lack of gene carriers with reliable biosafety and loading capacity is still impeding the practical applications of gene therapy. Moreover, it has become a trend to combine multiple treatment strategies with gene therapy to achieve an enhanced curative effect. Herein, this study proposes the design of a multifunctional nanoplatform for gene delivery and photothermal therapy enhanced by magnetic targeting using functionalized magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles. Surface modification of magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles with chitosan and pDNA has been demonstrated to provide excellent colloidal stability and capacity for the magnetic targeting of HeLa cells. These nanocomposites exhibit superparamagnetism, which is remarkable and could potentiality lead to an improvement in their therapeutic effect under a localized magnetic field. The obtained nanoagent is able to generate a significant photothermal effect due to the strong optical absorbance in the near infrared region. Furthermore, superior gene transfection efficiency is achieved under magnetic guidance. In vitro experiments also reveal that this nanoagent has excellent biocompatibility for safe medical applications. This study can provide critical experimental evidence and encourage further investigation of combining photothermal therapy with gene therapy for treatment of various medical conditions.

Magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles for combined enzyme-responsive drug release and photothermal therapy

Multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles based on Fe3O4 nanocore and Prussian blue nanoshell for combined enzyme-responsive drug release and photothermal therapy.

Magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles for targeted photothermal therapy under magnetic resonance imaging guidance.

This paper reported a core-shell nanotheranostic agent by growing Prussian blue (PB) nanoshells of 3-6 nm around superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanocores for targeted photothermal therapy of cancer under magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guidance. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments proved that the Fe3O4@PB core-shell nanoparticles showed significant contrast enhancement for T2-weighted MRI with the relaxivity value of 58.9 mM(-1)·s(-1). Simultaneously, the composite nanoparticles exhibited a high photothermal effect under irradiation of a near-infrared laser due to the strong absorption of PB nanoshells, which led to more than 80% death of HeLa cells with only 0.016 mg·mL(-1) of the nanoparticles with the aid of the magnetic targeting effect. Using tumor-bearing nude mice as the model, the near-infrared laser light ablated the tumor effectively in the presence of the Fe3O4@PB nanoparticles and the tumor growth inhibition was evaluated to be 87.2%. Capabilities of MRI, magnetic targeting, and photothermal therapy were thus integrated into a single agent to allow efficient MRI-guided targeted photothermal therapy. Most importantly, both PB and Fe3O4 nanoparticles were already clinically approved drugs, so the Fe3O4@PB nanoparticles as a theranostic nanomedicine would be particularly promising for clinical applications in the human body due to the reliable biosafety.

Multifunctional carbon nanospheres with magnetic and luminescent probes: probable brain theranostic agents.

Multi-functional carbon nanospheres with magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles and luminescent lanthanide ions have been prepared. The negatively charged surface of the glucose derived carbon sphere facilitates the nucleation of Prussian blue nanoparticles on its surface. The luminescent lanthanide probes were attached to the surface of the carbon sphere through a benzene tricarboxylic acid linker. These multifunctional hybrid organic-inorganic composites are superparamagnetic and show enhanced luminescent properties. Their ability to cross the blood-brain barrier (enter the brain cell nucleus with no animal toxicity) in a mouse model indicate that these nanocomposites are promising theranostic agents for the treatment of brain diseases.