CuFeS2 Nanoparticles Functionalized with a Thermoresponsive Polymer for Photothermia and Externally Controlled Drug Delivery

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 15; no. 19; pp. 22999 - 23011
• Main Authors: Conteh, John S., Nucci, Giulia E. P., Fernandez Cabada, Tamara, Mai, Binh T., Soni, Nisarg, De Donato, Francesco, Pasquale, Lea, Catalano, Federico, Prato, Mirko, Manna, Liberato, Pellegrino, Teresa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Chemical Society 17.05.2023
• Subjects: Biological and Medical Applications of Materials and Interfaces; cytotoxicity; doxorubicin; drug therapy; fever; glioblastoma; heat; humans; hydrodynamics; nanocarriers; nanoparticles; photoirradiation; polymers; reactive oxygen species; phototherapy; doxorubicin; chemotherapy; chalcopyrite; thermoresponsive materials; chalcogenide nanoparticles
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c03902

CuFeS2 chalcopyrite nanoparticles (NPs) can generate heat under exposure to near-infrared laser irradiation. Here, we develop a protocol to decorate the surface of CuFeS2 NPs (13 nm) with a thermoresponsive (TR) polymer based on poly­(ethylene glycol methacrylate) to combine heat-mediated drug delivery and photothermal heat damage. The resulting TR-CuFeS2 NPs feature a small hydrodynamic size (∼75 nm), along with high colloidal stability and a TR transition temperature of 41 °C in physiological conditions. Remarkably, TR-CuFeS2 NPs, when exposed to a laser beam (in the range of 0.5 and 1.5 W/cm2) at NP concentrations as low as 40–50 μg Cu/mL, exhibit a high heating performance with a rise in the solution temperature to hyperthermia therapeutic values (42–45 °C). Furthermore, TR-CuFeS2 NPs worked as nanocarriers, being able to load an appreciable amount of doxorubicin (90 μg DOXO/mg Cu), a chemotherapeutic agent whose release could then be triggered by exposing the NPs to a laser beam (through which a hyperthermia temperature above 42 °C could be reached). In an in vitro study performed on U87 human glioblastoma cells, bare TR-CuFeS2 NPs were proven to be nontoxic at a Cu concentration up to 40 μg/mL, while at the same low dose, the drug-loaded TR-CuFeS2-DOXO NPs displayed synergistic cytotoxic effects due to the combination of direct heat damage and DOXO chemotherapy, under photo-irradiation by a 808 nm laser (1.2 W/cm2). Finally, under a 808 nm laser, the TR-CuFeS2 NPs generated a tunable amount of reactive oxygen species depending on the applied power density and NP concentration.