Encapsulated Conjugated Oligomer Nanoparticles for Real-Time Photoacoustic Sentinel Lymph Node Imaging and Targeted Photothermal Therapy

Xiaolei Cai; Xiaofeng Liu; Lun-De Liao; Aishwarya Bandla; Ji Min Ling; Yu-Hang Liu; Nitish Thakor; Guillermo C Bazan; Bin Liu

doi:10.1002/smll.201600697

Encapsulated Conjugated Oligomer Nanoparticles for Real-Time Photoacoustic Sentinel Lymph Node Imaging and Targeted Photothermal Therapy

Small. 2016 Sep;12(35):4873-4880. doi: 10.1002/smll.201600697. Epub 2016 Jul 21.

Authors

Xiaolei Cai^{1

2}, Xiaofeng Liu³, Lun-De Liao^{4

5}, Aishwarya Bandla^{4

6}, Ji Min Ling^{4

7}, Yu-Hang Liu^{4

8}, Nitish Thakor^{4

6

8}, Guillermo C Bazan⁹, Bin Liu¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore, 117585, Singapore.
² NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 28 Medical Drive, #05-01, Singapore, 117456, Singapore.
³ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93107, USA.
⁴ Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE), National University of Singapore, 28 Medical Drive, #05-COR, Singapore, 117456, Singapore.
⁵ Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Nanomedicine, National Health Research Institutes, 35 Keyan Road, Zhunan Town, Miaoli County, 35053, Taiwan.
⁶ Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore.
⁷ National Neuroscience Institute (NNI), 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, Singapore, 308433, Singapore.
⁸ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, 21 Lower Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119077, Singapore.
⁹ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93107, USA. bazan@chem.ucsb.edu.
¹⁰ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore, 117585, Singapore. cheliub@nus.edu.sg.

PMID: 27439884
DOI: 10.1002/smll.201600697

Abstract

Noninvasive and nonionizing imaging of sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) is highly desirable for the detection of breast cancer metastasis through sentinel lymph node biopsy. Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is an emerging imaging technique that can serve as a suitable approach for SLN imaging. Herein, novel conjugated oligomer based nanoparticles (NPs) with strong NIR absorption, good biocompatibility, excellent PA contrast, and good photothermal conversion efficiency are reported. Real-time PA imaging of SLN reveals high resolution of the NPs via injection from the left forepaw pad. In addition, the surface functionalized NPs can target breast cancer cells and kill them efficiently and specifically through photothermal therapy upon 808 nm laser irradiation. This work shows great potential of the nanoparticle PA contrast agent to serve as a multifunctional probe for photothermal therapy at SLNs to achieve the inhibition of cancer cell metastasis in the near future.

Keywords: conjugated oligomer; organic nanoparticles; photoacoustic imaging; photothermal therapy; sentinel lymph node.

MeSH terms

Animals
Cell Line, Tumor
Cell Survival
Hyperthermia, Induced*
Imaging, Three-Dimensional
Male
Mice
NIH 3T3 Cells
Nanoparticles / chemistry*
Nanoparticles / ultrastructure
Photoacoustic Techniques / methods*
Phototherapy*
Rats, Wistar
Sentinel Lymph Node / pathology*
Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
Temperature