A multifunctional AIE gold cluster-based theranostic system: tumor-targeted imaging and Fenton reaction-assisted enhanced radiotherapy

• Published in: Journal of nanobiotechnology Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 438 - 14
• Main Authors: Hua, Yue, Wang, Yuan, Kang, Xue, Xu, Fan, Han, Zhen, Zhang, Chong, Wang, Zhao-Yang, Liu, Jun-Qi, Zhao, Xueli, Chen, Xiaoyuan, Zang, Shuang-Quan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 20.12.2021; BioMed Central Ltd; BMC
• Subjects: Aggregation-induced emission (AIE); Animals; Apoptosis; Assemblies; Biocompatibility; Biotechnology; Brain cancer; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Cell culture; Cell death; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Survival - drug effects; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chemotherapy; Clusters; Cytotoxicity; Dosage and administration; Ethanol; Fabrication; Female; Fenton reaction; Ferric Compounds - chemistry; Ferric oxide; Fluorescence; Gene therapy; Gold; Gold - chemistry; Health aspects; Homeostasis; Humans; Hydrogen Peroxide - chemistry; In vivo methods and tests; Iron - chemistry; Iron oxides; Irradiation; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Microenvironments; Molecular Medicine; Nanoclusters; Nanomaterials; Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanoparticles - toxicity; Nanotechnology; Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Oligopeptides - chemistry; Patient outcomes; Photochemotherapy; Photosensitizing compounds; Radiation therapy; Radiation-Sensitizing Agents - chemistry; Radiation-Sensitizing Agents - pharmacokinetics; Radiation-Sensitizing Agents - pharmacology; Radiation-Sensitizing Agents - therapeutic use; Radiosensitizer; Radiotherapy; Reactive oxygen species; Theranostic Nanomedicine; Therapy; Tissue Distribution; Tumor suppression; Tumors; X ray irradiation; Singapore; Therapy; Radiosensitizer; Fenton reaction; Assemblies; Aggregation-induced emission (AIE)
• ISSN: 1477-3155; 1477-3155
• DOI: 10.1186/s12951-021-01191-x

Background As cancer is one of the main leading causes of mortality, a series of monotherapies such as chemotherapy, gene therapy and radiotherapy have been developed to overcome this thorny problem. However, a single treatment approach could not achieve satisfactory effect in many experimental explorations. Results In this study, we report the fabrication of cyclic RGD peptide (cRGD) modified Au 4 -iron oxide nanoparticle (Au 4 -IO NP-cRGD) based on aggregation-induced emission (AIE) as a multifunctional theranostic system. Besides Au 4 cluster-based fluorescence imaging and enhanced radiotherapy, iron oxide (IO) nanocluster could realize magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and Fenton reaction-based chemotherapy. Abundant toxic reactive oxygen species generated from X-ray irradiation and in situ tumor-specific Fenton reaction under acidic microenvironment leads to the apoptotic and necrotic death of cancer cells. In vivo studies demonstrated good biocompatibility of Au 4 -IO NP-cRGD and a high tumor suppression rate of 81.1% in the synergistic therapy group. Conclusions The successful dual-modal imaging and combined tumor therapy demonstrated AIE as a promising strategy for constructing multifunctional cancer theranostic platform. Graphical Abstract