Ce6-Conjugated and polydopamine-coated gold nanostars with enhanced photoacoustic imaging and photothermal/photodynamic therapy to inhibit lung metastasis of breast cancer

Nanoscale. 2020 Nov 12;12(43):22173-22184. doi: 10.1039/d0nr05386d.

Abstract

Metastasis is the main cause of treatment failure in breast cancer, and integrated phototheranostics is a promising strategy to achieve both precision theranostics and metastasis inhibition. In this work, a multifunctional phototheranostic nanoprobe composed of chlorin e6 (Ce6)-conjugated and polydopamine (PDA)-coated gold nanostars (AuNSs) was synthesized for simultaneous photoacoustic (PA) imaging, photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Under the irradiation of near infrared laser, AuNSs@PDA showed enhanced photothermal conversion and amplified PA imaging performance, compared with single AuNSs. By the covalent conjugation of Ce6, the AuNSs@PDA-Ce6 nanoprobe showed robust stability and excellent singlet oxygen (1O2) generation ability. Under the combination of PTT/PDT, the AuNSs@PDA-Ce6 nanoprobes significantly reduced the growth of 4T1 tumors and suppressed their lung metastasis. All the results demonstrated the considerable potential of AuNSs@PDA-Ce6 phototheranostic nanoprobes for precision theranostics and metastasis inhibition of breast cancer.

MeSH terms

  • Breast Neoplasms* / diagnostic imaging
  • Breast Neoplasms* / drug therapy
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Chlorophyllides
  • Gold
  • Humans
  • Indoles
  • Lung Neoplasms* / drug therapy
  • Lung Neoplasms* / therapy
  • Photoacoustic Techniques*
  • Photochemotherapy*
  • Photosensitizing Agents / pharmacology
  • Photosensitizing Agents / therapeutic use
  • Polymers
  • Porphyrins*

Substances

  • Chlorophyllides
  • Indoles
  • Photosensitizing Agents
  • Polymers
  • Porphyrins
  • polydopamine
  • phytochlorin
  • Gold