Magnetic Resonance Imaging-guided Photothermal Therapy Research Articles

Immune-stealth carboxymethyl chitosan-based nanomaterials for magnetic resonance imaging-guided photothermal therapy

Numerous protein-based multifunctional nanomaterials have been studied for biomedical applications. However, the inherent immunogenicity and activation of the complement system of protein-based nanomaterials may cause immunological responses, further leading to hypersensitivity and/or allergic reactions in patients. Herein, carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) and KMnO4 are used to develop polysaccharide-based MnO2 (CM) nanoparticles as facile, effective and low-immunogenicity nanomaterials for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided photothermal therapy (PTT). As a proof of concept, indocyanine green (ICG) is loaded in the CM nanoplatform to form a CMC-MnO2-ICG compound (CMI) for MRI-guided photothermal therapy. In vitro studies show that the proposed CMC-based nanomaterials exhibit excellent hemocompatibility and no significant complement activation. The in vivo biosafety experiments also show that the CMC-based nanomaterials have low immunogenicity and will not cause tissue damage. Moreover, the prepared CMI nanoparticles (NPs) possess outstanding photothermal properties and high longitudinal relaxivity (8.47 mM−1 s−1), which achieve successful MRI-guided PTT in tumor-bearing mice. This work draws increasing attention to the hemocompatibility and immunogenicity of high-performance nanoprobes for biomedical applications.

Manganese-Doped Layered Double Hydroxide: A Biodegradable Theranostic Nanoplatform with Tumor Microenvironment Response for Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Photothermal Therapy.

Theranostic nanoplatforms with easy fabrication, high efficiency, and biodegradability are imperative to achieve efficacious and safe cancer treatment outcome. Toward this end, we prepared manganese-doped layered double hydroxide nanoparticles (Mn-LDH NPs) via a facile two-step synthetic method and revealed their excellent photothermal property coupled with simultaneous T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging enhancement ability. By virtue of these unique properties, imaging-guided photothermal treatment has been achieved to eliminate tumors by using the Mn-LDH NPs without additional photosensitizer, drug, or imaging agent. Specifically, Mn(ox)-LDH NPs (oxidized Mn-LDH NPs) exhibited highly efficient tumor killing ability by activating apoptosis of tumor cells under external NIR 808 nm laser irradiation with the imaging guidance. More importantly, both the MR imaging and in vitro/vivo testing revealed that the Mn-LDH NPs are able to degrade in physiological conditions and demonstrate a high degree of biosafety. Considering the excellent T1-weighted MRI contrast property, effective photothermal performance, biodegradation, and biosafety, the Mn-LDH NPs have presented a potential generation inorganic biodegradable theranostic nanoplatform for efficacious cancer treatment.

Sub-10 nm Cu5FeS4 cube for magnetic resonance imaging-guided photothermal therapy of cancer.

BackgroundFacile synthesis and small size theranostic agents have shown great potential for cancer diagnosis and treatment.PurposeA ternary compound (Cu5FeS4), Fe doped copper sulfide, with novel magnetic properties and strong near-infrared absorption was prepared for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) imaging guided photothermal therapy of cancer.Patients and methodsFirstly, the capability of magnetic resonance imaging based on the novel magnetic properties and the photothermal performance due to the strong near-infrared absorption was investigated in vitro. Then, the magnetic resonance imaging guided photothermal therapy for 4T1 tumor-bearing mouse was carried out.ResultsThe Cu5FeS4 cube with good T1-weighted MRI, excellent photothermal performance and low cytotoxicity has been investigated. More importantly, the T1-weighted MRI for 4T1 tumor-bearing mouse will get the best contrast effect at tumor site after 8 h of intravenous injection of Cu5FeS4 cube. Under the guidance of the T1-weighted MRI, the PTT was carried out at 8 h after intravenous injection of Cu5FeS4 cube and only the group combined intravenous administration of Cu5FeS4 cube and laser irradiation nearly cured the tumor after 14 days.ConclusionOur study not only provides a new material for personalized treatment of tumors, but also further promotes potential applications of the cancer theranostic agents.

Gold nanostars decorated MnO2 nanosheets for magnetic resonance imaging and photothermal erasion of lung cancer cell

We report a facile fabrication approach for sensitive theranostic nanoprobe - gold nanostars@MnO2 nanosheets, by which gold nanostars were grown on the surface of MnO2 nanosheets. Owing to the ability of gold nanostars to absorb light at near infrared (NIR) wavelength, the nanoprobe showed excellent photothermal conversion effect, while exhibited tumor microenvironment-responsive magnetic resonance imaging property due to the redox property of MnO2 nanosheets. Amazingly, photothermal irradiation experiment showed that the nanoprobe sensitively triggered lung cancer cell death, while produced negligible effect on normal lung epithelial cells. Therefore, these demonstrate that the nanoprobe may have potential application in magnetic resonance imaging-guided photothermal therapy of lung cancer.

Biocompatible and pH-sensitive MnO-loaded carbonaceous nanospheres (MnO@CNSs): A theranostic agent for magnetic resonance imaging-guided photothermal therapy

Integrated theranostic agents can provide multifunctional platforms for synergetic cancer diagnosis and therapy. However, the efficiency and safety of agents are of great concern. In this work, we prepared biocompatible and pH-sensitive MnO-loaded carbonaceous nanospheres (MnO@CNSs) for simultaneous magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and photothermal therapy (PTT). Carbonaceous nanospheres (CNSs) with biocompatibility and unique optical properties were prepared by hydrothermal method for photothermal absorption and released Mn2+ were used for MRI. In vitro the results of MRI T1 relaxivity test showed r1 value in the acidic environment with an increase by 5-fold (from 5.42 mM−1s−1 to 0.18 mM−1s−1), due to excellent pH responsiveness. In addition, MRI and photothermal effect for mouse model showed enhanced T1 signal and temperature elevation in tumor site with photoirradiation. All the aforementioned results embodied that MnO@CNSs can be used as a fine biocompatible and pH-sensitive contrast for combining targeted MRI with accurate photothermal therapy, showing important value and potential in the integration of theranostics of cancer.

Correction: Porous cobalt sulfide hollow nanospheres with tunable optical property for magnetic resonance imaging-guided photothermal therapy.

Correction for 'Porous cobalt sulfide hollow nanospheres with tunable optical property for magnetic resonance imaging-guided photothermal therapy' by Guoqiang Guan et al., Nanoscale, 2018, DOI: 10.1039/c8nr01926f.

Microwave-assisted preparation of paramagnetic zwitterionic amphiphilic copolymer hybrid molybdenum disulfide for T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging-guided photothermal therapy.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided photothermal therapy (PTT) has recently attracted tremendous attention. In this study, a paramagnetic zwitterionic amphiphilic copolymer (PZAC) was successfully prepared and utilized as a multifunctional surfactant to form micelles in diethylene glycol to coordinate with a molybdenum disulfide precursor (MoS2). Uniform spherical MoS2 nanohybrids (MoS2@PZAC) were first prepared by a microwave-assisted solvothermal process, which is simpler, easier and more efficient than hydrothermal methods or exfoliation processes. In this nanoplatform, MoS2 serves as a phototherapeutic agent possessing a high photothermal conversion efficiency (33.8%), while PZAC acts as a T1-weighted MRI contrast agent. This nanoplatform has the advantages of ultralow toxicity, prolonged circulation time and bio-imaging guided capability. The cytotoxicity assessment showed the good cytocompatibility of MoS2@PZAC. Furthermore, MoS2@PZAC could effectively kill cancer cells upon 2 W cm-2 808 nm laser irradiation for 10 min in both in vitro and in vivo experiments. This work provides a novel and efficient solution to synthesize a multifunctional and uniform theranostic agent, and the results show that the as-prepared MoS2@PZAC can be used as a promising theranostic agent for T1-weighted MRI-guided PTT of cancer cells.

Porous cobalt sulfide hollow nanospheres with tunable optical property for magnetic resonance imaging-guided photothermal therapy.

Transition-metal chalcogenides with an imaging element and tunable optical property are strongly desired as ideal high-efficiency photothermal theranostic agents to diagnose and eliminate tumors. Herein, we report on a one-pot solvothermal strategy to synthesize various porous cobalt sulfide hollow nanospheres (PCSH NSs) and elucidate the relation between PCSH NSs and their optical absorption as a guide to obtain optimal photothermal therapy (PTT) agents. After PEG modification, PEG-PCSH NSs show superexcellent photothermal conversion efficiency (∼70.1%) which is higher than that of binary transition-metal chalcogenides materials reported to date. A low dose (100 μL, 25 ppm) could completely ablate tumors under an 808 nm laser power of 0.7 W cm-2, reducing in vivo long-term residual agent content and thus lowering the possibility of side effects. Additionally, they also exhibit excellent biocompatibility, good photostability and utility for magnetic resonance imaging. Our results indicate that PCSH NSs can be considered as an outstanding PTT agent and give guidance towards the design of other photothermal theranostic agents.

Synthesis of Gd-functionalized Fe3O4@polydopamine nanocomposites for T1/T2 dual-modal magnetic resonance imaging-guided photothermal therapy

A safe, efficient and inexpensive nanoplatform based on gadolinium-functionalized Fe3O4@polydopamine nanocomposites was fabricated for T1/T2 dual-modal magnetic resonance imaging-guided photothermal therapy.

Polydopamine-Coated Manganese Carbonate Nanoparticles for Amplified Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Photothermal Therapy.

This study reports a multifunctional nanoparticle (NP) that can be used for amplified magnetic resonance image (MRI)-guided photothermal therapy (PTT) due to its surface coating with a polydopamine (PDA) shell. Importantly, by means of introducing the surface coating of PDA, large quantities of water can be trapped around the NPs allowing more efficient water exchange, leading to greatly improved MR contrast signals compared with those from NPs without the PDA coating. Further, a distinct photothermal effect can be obtained arising from the strong absorption of PDA in the near-infrared (NIR) region. By synthesizing multifunctional MnCO3@PDA NPs, for example, we found that the longitudinal relaxivity (r1) of MnCO3 NPs can improve from 5.7 to 8.3 mM-1 s-1. Subsequently, in vitro MRI and PTT results verified that MnCO3@PDA could serve as an excellent MRI/PTT theranostic agent. Furthermore, the MnCO3@PDA NPs were applied as an MRI/PTT theranostic agent for in vivo MRI-guided photothermal ablation of tumors by intratumoral injection in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice. The MR imaging result shows a significantly bright MR image in the tumor site. The MnCO3@PDA-mediated PTT result shows high therapeutic efficiency as a result of high photothermal conversion efficiency. The present strategy of amplified MRI-guided PTT based on PDA coating of NPs will be widely applicable to other multifunctional NPs.

Oxygen Vacancy Enables Markedly Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Photothermal Therapy of a Gd3+-Doped Contrast Agent.

Gd3+-based contrast agents (CAs) are the most prevailing and widely used for enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Numbers of approaches have been developed to regulate the key parameters in order to obtain high-relaxivity CAs, according to the classic Solomon-Bloembergen-Morgen theory. Herein, a method of controlling oxygen vacancies in inorganic nanosized CAs has been developed for largely accelerated proton relaxation to obtain a high r1 value. Such a strategy is verified on oxygen-deficient PEG-NaxGdWO3 nanorods, which exhibit a remarkable r1 value up to 80 mM-1 s-1 (at 0.7 T) and a high r1 value of 32.1 mM-1 s-1 on a clinical 3.0 T scanner, offering an excellent blood pool MRI performance at a low dose. Meanwhile, free electrons and/or oxygen-vacancy-induced small polarons can endow PEG-NaxGdWO3 nanorods with significant photothermal conversion for MRI-guided photothermal therapy.

Nanoscale Metal-Organic Particles with Rapid Clearance for Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Photothermal Therapy.

Nanoscale metal-organic particles (NMOPs) are constructed from metal ions and organic bridging ligands via the self-assembly process. Herein, we fabricate NMOPs composed of Mn(2+) and a near-infrared (NIR) dye, IR825, obtaining Mn-IR825 NMOPs, which are then coated with a shell of polydopamine (PDA) and further functionalized with polyethylene glycol (PEG). While Mn(2+) in such Mn-IR825@PDA-PEG NMOPs offers strong contrast in T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, IR825 with strong NIR optical absorbance shows efficient photothermal conversion with great photostability in the NMOP structure. Upon intravenous injection, Mn-IR825@PDA-PEG shows efficient tumor homing together with rapid renal excretion behaviors, as revealed by MR imaging and confirmed by biodistribution measurement. Notably, when irradiated with an 808 nm laser, tumors on mice with Mn-IR825@PDA-PEG injection are completely eliminated without recurrence within 60 days, demonstrating the high efficacy of photothermal therapy with this agent. This study demonstrates the use of NMOPs as a potential photothermal agent, which features excellent tumor-targeted imaging and therapeutic functions, together with rapid renal excretion behavior, the latter of which would be particularly important for future clinical translation of nanomedicine.