Conjugation of a Scintillator Complex and Gold Nanorods for Dual-Modal Image-Guided Photothermal and X‑ray-Induced Photodynamic Therapy of Tumors

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 12; no. 11; pp. 12591 - 12599
• Main Authors: Luo, Li, Sun, Wenjing, Feng, Yushuo, Qin, Ruixue, Zhang, Jinghui, Ding, Dandan, Shi, Tianhang, Liu, Xiangmei, Chen, Xiaoyuan, Chen, Hongmin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 18.03.2020
• Subjects: Animals; antineoplastic activity; Antineoplastic Agents - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Survival - drug effects; Cell Survival - radiation effects; Fluorescent Dyes - chemistry; Gold - chemistry; lanthanides; Lanthanoid Series Elements - chemistry; luminescence; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; nanogold; nanorods; Nanotubes - chemistry; near infrared radiation; neoplasm progression; neoplasms; Optical Imaging - methods; photochemotherapy; Photochemotherapy - methods; photothermotherapy; Radiation-Sensitizing Agents - chemistry; Radiation-Sensitizing Agents - pharmacology; radiotherapy; Theranostic Nanomedicine; X-radiation; X-Rays; nanotheranostics; synergistic therapy; X-ray induced photodynamic therapy; radiosensitizers; photothermal therapy
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c01189

Light-mediated therapy has many unique merits but monotherapy strategies rarely completely inhibit tumor growth because resistance often develops. Combination therapy is a promising strategy in oncology and has demonstrated superior safety and efficacy over monotherapy. Here, we conjugated a scintillator complex and gold nanorod nanosensitizer for dual-modal image-guided photothermal and X-ray-induced photodynamic therapy (PDT). Lanthanide complexes were successfully conjugated and offer excellent X-ray-excited optical luminescence for PDT effects. The strong near-infrared (NIR) light and X-ray absorption abilities of gold nanorods make the nanosensitizer function as both a photothermal agent for photothermal therapy and a radiosensitizer for enhanced radiotherapy. The studies in vitro and in vivo demonstrated that the nanosensitizer offers good dual-modal imaging capability and significantly suppresses tumor progression under NIR light and X-ray irradiation. This work shows the great potential of conjugating scintillator lanthanide complexes and gold nanosensitizers for multimodal image-guided therapy of deep-seated tumors.