Lipid-AuNPs@PDA Nanohybrid for MRI/CT Imaging and Photothermal Therapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 6; no. 16; pp. 14266 - 14277
• Main Authors: Zeng, Yongyi, Zhang, Da, Wu, Ming, Liu, Ying, Zhang, Xiang, Li, Ling, Li, Zheng, Han, Xiao, Wei, Xueyong, Liu, Xiaolong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 27.08.2014
• Subjects: absorbance; aqueous solutions; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - diagnosis; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - therapy; Cell Death - drug effects; Cell Death - radiation effects; Cell Line; cytotoxicity; Diagnostic Imaging - methods; Gadolinium - chemistry; Gold - chemistry; HeLa Cells; Hep G2 Cells; hepatoma; human cell lines; Humans; image analysis; Indocyanine Green - chemistry; Indoles - chemistry; irradiation; lipids; Lipids - chemistry; Liver Neoplasms - diagnosis; Liver Neoplasms - therapy; magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; nanogold; nanoparticles; neoplasm cells; Phototherapy - methods; Polymers - chemistry; therapeutics; tomography; Tomography, X-Ray Computed - methods; X-radiation; polydopamine; lactobionic acid; targeted photothermal therapy; dual-mode imaging; AuNPs
• DOI: 10.1021/am503583s
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252

Multifunctional theranostic nanoparticles represent an emerging agent with the potential to offer extremely sensitive diagnosis and targeted cancer therapy. Herein, we report the synthesis and characterization of a multifunctional theranostic agent (referred to as LA-LAPNHs) for targeted magnetic resonance imaging/computed X-ray tomography (MRI/CT) dual-mode imaging and photothermal therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma. The LA-LAPNHs were characterized as having a core–shell structure with the gold nanoparticles (AuNPs)@polydopamine (PDA) as the inner core, the indocyanine green (ICG), which is electrostatically absorbed onto the surface of PDA, as the photothermal therapeutic agent, and the lipids modified with gadolinium–1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid and lactobionic acid (LA), which is self-assembled on the outer surface as the shell. The LA-LAPNHs could be selectively internalized into the hepatocellular cell line (HepG2 cells) but not into HeLa cells due to the specific recognition ability of LA to asialoglycoprotein receptor. Additionally, the dual-mode imaging ability of the LA-LAPNH aqueous solution was confirmed by enhanced MR and CT imaging showing a shorter T 1 relaxation time and a higher Hounsfield unit value, respectively. In addition, the LA-LAPNHs showed significant photothermal cytotoxicity against liver cancer cells with near-infrared irradiation due to their strong absorbance in the region between 700 and 850 nm. In summary, this study demonstrates that LA-LAPNHs may be a promising candidate for targeted MR/CT dual-mode imaging and photothermal therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma.