Hollow Mesoporous Tantalum Oxide Based Nanospheres for Triple Sensitization of Radiotherapy

Magnetic-guided nanocarriers for ionizing/non-ionizing radiation synergistic treatment against triple-negative breast cancer

BACKGROUND

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer with the worst prognosis. Radiotherapy (RT) is one of the core modalities for the disease; however, the ionizing radiation of RT has severe side effects. The consistent development direction of RT is to achieve better therapeutic effect with lower radiation dose. Studies have demonstrated that synergistic effects can be achieved by combining RT with non-ionizing radiation therapies such as light and magnetic therapy, thereby achieving the goal of dose reduction and efficacy enhancement.

METHODS

In this study, we applied FeCo NPs with magneto thermal function and phototherapeutic agent IR-780 to construct an ionizing and non-ionizing radiation synergistic nanoparticle (INS NPs). INS NPs are first subjected to morphology, size, colloidal stability, loading capacity, and photothermal conversion tests. Subsequently, the cell inhibitory and cellular internalization were evaluated using cell lines in vitro. Following comprehensive assessment of the NPs' in vivo biocompatibility, tumor-bearing mouse model was established to evaluate their distribution, targeted delivery, and anti-tumor effects in vivo.

RESULTS

INS NPs have a saturation magnetization exceeding 72 emu/g, a hydrodynamic particle size of approximately 40 nm, a negatively charged surface, and good colloidal stability and encapsulation properties. INS NPs maintain the spectral characteristics of IR-780 at 808 nm. Under laser irradiation, the maximum temperature was 92 °C, INS NPs also achieved the effective heat temperature in vivo. Both in vivo and in vitro tests have proven that INS NPs have good biocompatibility. INS NPs remained effective for more than a week after one injection in vivo, and can also be guided and accumulated in tumors through permanent magnets. Later, the results exhibited that under low-dose RT and laser irradiation, the combined intervention group showed significant synergetic effects, and the ROS production rate was much higher than that of the RT and phototherapy-treated groups. In the mice model, 60% of the tumors were completely eradicated.

CONCLUSIONS

INS NPs effectively overcome many shortcomings of RT for TNBC and provide experimental basis for the development of novel clinical treatment methods for TNBC.

Controlled Release of Hydrogen-Carrying Perfluorocarbons for Ischemia Myocardium-Targeting 19 F MRI-Guided Reperfusion Injury Therapy

Hydrogen gas is recently proven to have anti-oxidative and anti-inflammation effects on ischemia-reperfusion injury. However, the efficacy of hydrogen therapy is limited by the efficiency of hydrogen storage, targeted delivery, and controlled release. In this study, H2 -PFOB nanoemulsions (NEs) is developed with high hydrogen loading capacity for targeted ischemic myocardium precision therapy. The hydrogen-carrying capacity of H2 -PFOB NEs is determined by gas chromatography and microelectrode methods. Positive uptake of H2 -PFOB NEs in ischemia-reperfusion myocardium and the influence of hydrogen on 19 F-MR signal are quantitatively visualized using a 9.4T MR imaging system. The biological therapeutic effects of H2 -PFOB NEs are examined on a myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury mouse model. The results illustrated that the developed H2 -PFOB NEs can efficaciously achieve specific infiltration into ischemic myocardium and exhibit excellent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, which can be dynamically visualized by 19 F-MR imaging system. Moreover, hydrogen burst release induced by low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) irradiation further promotes the therapeutic effect of H2 -PFOB NEs with a favorable biosafety profile. In this study, the potential therapeutic effects of H2 -PFOB NEs is fully unfolded, which may hold great potential for future hydrogen-based precision therapeutic applications tailored to ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Recent progress of metal-based nanomaterials with anti-tumor biological effects for enhanced cancer therapy

Metal-based nanomaterials have attracted broad attention recently due to their unique biological physical and chemical properties after entering tumor cells, namely biological effects. In particular, the abilities of Ca2+ to modulate T cell receptors activation, K+ to regulate stem cell differentiation, Mn2+ to activate the STING pathway, and Fe2+/3+ to induce tumor ferroptosis and enhance catalytic therapy, make the metal ions and metal-based nanomaterials play crucial roles in the cancer treatments. Therefore, due to the superior advantages of metal-based nanomaterials and the characteristics of the tumor microenvironment, we will summarize the recent progress of the anti-tumor biological effects of metal-based nanomaterials. Based on the different effects of metal-based nanomaterials on tumor cells, this review mainly focuses on the following five aspects: (1) metal-enhanced radiotherapy sensitization, (2) metal-enhanced catalytic therapy, (3) metal-enhanced ferroptosis, (4) metal-enhanced pyroptosis, and (5) metal-enhanced immunotherapy. At the same time, the shortcomings of the biological effects of metal-based nanomaterials on tumor therapy are also discussed, and the future research directions have been prospected. The highlights of promising biosafety, potent efficacy on biological effects for tumor therapy, and the in-depth various biological effects mechanism studies of metal-based nanomaterials provide novel ideas for the future biological application of the nanomaterials.

Cisplatin-loaded gold nanoshells mediate chemo-photothermal therapy against primary and distal lung cancers growth

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer mortality worldwide. The advances in surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapeutic and immunotherapeutic drugs have progressed in the past decades, but the prognosis of lung cancer is still poor. In this study, we developed cisplatin (CDDP)-loaded human serum albumin (HSA)-based gold nanoshells (HCP@GNSs) for synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy (chemo-PTT). The HCP@GNSs not only acted as drug nanocarriers for chemotherapy but also serve as a superior mediator for PTT, which could exhibit a temperature increase upon a near infrared (NIR) laser exposure that was sufficient for photothermal ablation. HCP@GNSs were highly biocompatible and hemocompatible nanocarriers, while the synergistic chemo-PTT resulting from HCP@GNSs plus NIR exposure displayed stronger cytotoxicity effect than HCP@GNSs or PTT alone, especially at a low CDDP concentration. In vivo analysis demonstrated that HCP@GNSs-mediated chemo-PTT increased necrosis in tumors to achieve a high tumor clearance rate with no adverse side effects. Moreover, HCP@GNSs-medicated chemo-PTT induced the recruitment of dendritic cells, B-cells, and natural killer T-cells in distal tumors to inhibit the growth of the tumors. Therefore, the CDDP-loaded HCP@GNSs may be a potential nanomedicine candidate for curative lung cancer treatment in the future.

Dual nanoenzymes loaded hollow mesoporous organotantalum nanospheres for chemo-radio sensitization

Chemo-radiotherapy has been extensively used in clinics, displaying substantial advantages in treatment and prognosis. Stimuli-responsive biodegradable nanoagents that can achieve not only delivery and controlled release of chemotherapeutics, but also hypoxia alleviation to enhance chemoradiotherapy therefore has tremendous potential. Herein, glutathione (GSH)-responsive, biodegradable, doxorubicin-carrying hollow mesoporous organotantalum nanospheres modified with Au and Pt dual nanoenzymes (HMOTP@Pt@Au@Dox) were constructed for chemo-radio sensitization. Degradation of HMOTP@Pt@Au@Dox can be self-activated through GSH stimulation and on-demand release packaged Dox owing to the disulfide bond in the hybrid framework of organotantalum nanospheres. Au and Pt nanoenzymes triggered cascade catalytic reactions that could alleviate hypoxia by utilizing β-d-glucose and H₂O₂, thereby sensitizing ROS-based chemoradiotherapy with synergistic starving therapy. Given the radiosensitization of high-Z elements (Ta, Pt, Au), nanoenzymes induced cascade catalytic reaction for hypoxia relief, and the depletion of the predominant antioxidant GSH, desirable tumor suppression could be achieved both in vitro and in vivo, indicating that HMOTP@Pt@Au@Dox is a promising nanoagent to boost chemo-radiotherapy.

Multifunctional high-Z nanoradiosensitizers for multimodal synergistic cancer therapy

Radiotherapy (RT) is one of the most common and effective clinical therapies for malignant tumors. However, there are several limitations that undermine the clinical efficacy of cancer RT, including the low X-ray attenuation coefficient of organs, serious damage to normal tissues, and radioresistance in hypoxic tumors. With the rapid development of nanotechnology and nanomedicine, high-Z nanoradiosensitizers provide novel opportunities to overcome radioresistance and improve the efficacy of RT by deposition of radiation energy through photoelectric effects. To date, several types of nanoradiosensitizers have entered clinical trials. Nevertheless, the limitation of the single treatment mode and the unclear mechanism of nanoparticle radiosensitization have hindered the further development of nanoradiosensitizers. In this review, we systematically describe the interaction mechanisms between X-rays and nanomaterials and summarize recent advances in multifunctional high-Z nanomaterials for radiotherapeutic-based multimodal synergistic cancer therapy. Finally, the challenges and prospects are discussed to stimulate the development of nanomedicine-based cancer RT.

Emerging Bismuth Chalcogenides Based Nanodrugs for Cancer Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy (RT), as one of the main methods of clinical tumor treatment, has been applied to the treatment of most solid tumors. However, the effect of RT is compromised by the radiation resistance of tumor hypoxic environment and non-specific damage caused by high-dose radiation. Bismuth chalcogenides (Bi2X3, X = S, Se) based nanodrugs have attracted widespread attention as highly efficient radiosensitizers due to their high photoelectric effect and excellent biocompatibility. More importantly, specially designed nanocomposites can effectively alleviate the radiation resistance of tumor tissues. Here, for the first time, we systematically summarize the latest progresses of Bi2X3 nanodrugs to enhance RT by alleviating the hypoxic tumor microenvironment. These emerging Bi2X3 nanodrugs mainly include three aspects, which are Bi2X3 nanocomposites with high-efficient O2 supply, non-O2-dependent Bi2X3 nanocomposites RT enhancers, and Bi2X3 nanocomposites-based photothermal-enhanced radiosensitizers. These Bi2X3 nanodrugs can effectively overcome the RT resistance of tumor hypoxic microenvironment, and have extremely high therapeutic effects and clinical application prospects. Finally, we put forward the challenges and prospects of Bi2X3 nanomaterials in the field of RT.

A GdW10@PDA-CAT Sensitizer with High-Z Effect and Self-Supplied Oxygen for Hypoxic-Tumor Radiotherapy

Anticancer treatment is largely affected by the hypoxic tumor microenvironment (TME), which causes the resistance of the tumor to radiotherapy. Combining radiosensitizer compounds and O2 self-enriched moieties is an emerging strategy in hypoxic-tumor treatments. Herein, we engineered GdW10@PDA-CAT (K3Na4H2GdW10O36·2H2O, GdW10, polydopamine, PDA, catalase, CAT) composites as a radiosensitizer for the TME-manipulated enhancement of radiotherapy. In the composites, Gd (Z = 64) and W (Z = 74), as the high Z elements, make X-ray gather in tumor cells, thereby enhancing DNA damage induced by radiation. CAT can convert H2O2 to O2 and H2O to enhance the X-ray effect under hypoxic TME. CAT and PDA modification enhances the biocompatibility of the composites. Our results showed that GdW10@PDA-CAT composites increased the efficiency of radiotherapy in HT29 cells in culture. This polyoxometalates and O2 self-supplement composites provide a promising radiosensitizer for the radiotherapy field.

Tumor microenvironments self-activated nanoscale metal-organic frameworks for ferroptosis based cancer chemodynamic/photothermal/chemo therapy

Ferroptosis, as a newly discovered cell death form, has become an attractive target for precision cancer therapy. Several ferroptosis therapy strategies based on nanotechnology have been reported by either increasing intracellular iron levels or by inhibition of glutathione (GSH)-dependent lipid hydroperoxidase glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4). However, the strategy by simultaneous iron delivery and GPX4 inhibition has rarely been reported. Herein, novel tumor microenvironments (TME)-activated metal-organic frameworks involving Fe & Cu ions bridged by disulfide bonds with PEGylation (FCSP MOFs) were developed, which would be degraded specifically under the redox TME, simultaneously achieving GSH-depletion induced GPX4 inactivation and releasing Fe ions to produce ROS via Fenton reaction, therefore causing ferroptosis. More ROS could be generated by the acceleration of Fenton reaction due to the released Cu ions and the intrinsic photothermal capability of FCSP MOFs. The overexpressed GSH and H₂O₂ in TME could ensure the specific TME self-activated therapy. Better tumor therapeutic efficiency could be achieved by doxorubicin (DOX) loading since it can not only cause apoptosis, but also indirectly produce H₂O₂ to amplify Fenton reaction. Remarkable anti-tumor effect of obtained FCSP@DOX MOFs was verified via both in vitro and in vivo assays.

NIR-Controlled Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Tumor Cells by Mesoporous Silica Capsules Containing Gold Nanorods and Doxorubicin

Multidrug resistance (MDR) is identified as a major impediment to the efficient chemotherapy of cancer, and considerable endeavors have been devoted to reverse MDR containing structuring varieties of multifunctional nanocarriers. Here, a specially light-activated hollow mesoporous silica nanocontainer with an in situ-synthesized Au nanorod (AuNR) core and a surface-modified hairpin structure DNA gatekeeper is reported for treating MDR tumor cells. In this system, the AuNR only fills part of the space in hollow mesoporous silica due to its controllable size, and the remaining space is used to load enough DOX. By controlling the near-infrared (NIR) laser intensity and exposure duration, the configuration of hairpin-structured DNA (T_m = 51.4 °C) can change reversibly and then trigger the controllable intracellular release of DOX, leading to a significantly enhanced chemotherapeutic efficacy and adjustable photothermal treatment for multidrug-resistant cancer cells. The in vitro experiments showed that this system could effectively overcome the MDR of HepG2-adm cells (a MDR cell line of human hepatocarcinoma cells) by the increased concentration of DOX intracellularly and the photothermal conversion of AuNRs, even at a low concentration (e.g., 30 μg mL^-1). Therefore, this NIR-triggered chemo-photothermal synergistic treatment system can be used as a promising efficient strategy in reversing the multidrug resistance for cancer therapy.

Application of New Radiosensitizer Based on Nano-Biotechnology in the Treatment of Glioma

Glioma is the most common intracranial malignant tumor, and its specific pathogenesis has been unclear, which has always been an unresolved clinical problem due to the limited therapeutic window of glioma. As we all know, surgical resection, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy are the main treatment methods for glioma. With the development of clinical trials and traditional treatment techniques, radiotherapy for glioma has increasingly exposed defects in the treatment effect. In order to improve the bottleneck of radiotherapy for glioma, people have done a lot of work; among this, nano-radiosensitizers have offered a novel and potential treatment method. Compared with conventional radiotherapy, nanotechnology can overcome the blood–brain barrier and improve the sensitivity of glioma to radiotherapy. This paper focuses on the research progress of nano-radiosensitizers in radiotherapy for glioma.

Hollow PtCo alloy nanospheres as a high-Z and oxygen generating nanozyme for radiotherapy enhancement in non-small cell lung cancer

Radiotherapy, as well as chemotherapy and surgery, occupies an essential position in tumor treatment. Nonetheless, insufficient radiation deposition and hypoxia-related radioresistance of cancer cells still are serious challenges in radiotherapy. Herein, we proposed a hollow PtCo nanosphere (PtCo NS)-based novel radiosensitizer with three advantages to sensitize tumor radiotherapy: (i) the high-Z element Pt ensured higher radiation absorption to cause more DNA damage, (ii) the platinum (Pt) and cobalt (Co) elements exhibited a dual catalase-like enzymatic activity to convert endogenic H2O2 to O2 efficiently, and (iii) the unique hollow nature of the PtCo NS provided a large specific surface area, which could amplify the catalytic reaction of H2O2 to induce reactive oxygen species and cancer cell apoptosis upon combination with radiation. Both in vivo and in vitro studies showed that the hollow PtCo NS could significantly inhibit tumor growth, simultaneously relieving tumor hypoxia with good biocompatibility and biosafety. This work presents a simple but multifunctional radiosensitizer with a unique hollow structure for radiotherapy enhancement.

Extract Derived From Black Rice Functions as a Photothermal Agent for Suppressing Tumor Growth and Metastasis

It remains a challenge to develop an effective therapeutic agent with low cost and good biocompatibility for cancer therapy. Based on its dark color, we hypothesized that, the extraction from black rice grains, denoted BRE, could serve as a photothermal conversion agent. The results showed that BRE confers a high photothermal conversion efficiency up to 54.13%. The combination of BRE and near infrared (NIR) treatment enables effective photothermal tumor ablation, and suppress tumor metastasis via inhibiting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway. In addition, BRE exhibits no obvious toxicity in vivo. Therefore, BRE could serve as a promising photothermal therapy agent with a low toxicity to treat cancer.

Energy-converting biomaterials for cancer therapy: Category, efficiency, and biosafety

Energy-converting biomaterials (ECBs)-mediated cancer-therapeutic modalities have been extensively explored, which have achieved remarkable benefits to overwhelm the obstacles of traditional cancer-treatment modalities. Energy-driven cancer-therapeutic modalities feature their distinctive merits, including noninvasiveness, low mammalian toxicity, adequate therapeutic outcome, and optimistical synergistic therapeutics. In this advanced review, the prevailing mainstream ECBs can be divided into two sections: Reactive oxygen species (ROS)-associated energy-converting biomaterials (ROS-ECBs) and hyperthermia-related energy-converting biomaterials (H-ECBs). On the one hand, ROS-ECBs can transfer exogenous or endogenous energy (such as light, radiation, ultrasound, or chemical) to generate and release highly toxic ROS for inducing tumor cell apoptosis/necrosis, including photo-driven ROS-ECBs for photodynamic therapy, radiation-driven ROS-ECBs for radiotherapy, ultrasound-driven ROS-ECBs for sonodynamic therapy, and chemical-driven ROS-ECBs for chemodynamic therapy. On the other hand, H-ECBs could translate the external energy (such as light and magnetic) into heat for killing tumor cells, including photo-converted H-ECBs for photothermal therapy and magnetic-converted H-ECBs for magnetic hyperthermia therapy. Additionally, the biosafety issues of ECBs are expounded preliminarily, guaranteeing the ever-stringent requirements of clinical translation. Finally, we discussed the prospects and facing challenges for constructing the new-generation ECBs for establishing intriguing energy-driven cancer-therapeutic modalities. This article is categorized under: Nanotechnology Approaches to Biology >Nanoscale Systems in Biology.

Biodegradable hollow mesoporous organosilica nanotheranostics (HMON) for multi-mode imaging and mild photo-therapeutic-induced mitochondrial damage on gastric cancer

Background

CuS-modified hollow mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (HMON@CuS) have been preferred as non-invasive treatment for cancer, as near infrared (NIR)-induced photo-thermal effect (PTT) and/or photo-dynamic effect (PDT) could increase cancer cells’ apoptosis. However, the certain role of HMON@CuS-produced-PTT&PDT inducing gastric cancer (GC) cells’ mitochondrial damage, remained unclear. Moreover, theranostic efficiency of HMON@CuS might be well improved by applying multi-modal imaging, which could offer an optimal therapeutic region and time window. Herein, new nanotheranostics agents were reported by Gd doped HMON decorated by CuS nanocrystals (called HMON@CuS/Gd).

Results

HMON@CuS/Gd exhibited appropriate size distribution, good biocompatibility, l-Glutathione (GSH) responsive degradable properties, high photo-thermal conversion efficiency (82.4%) and a simultaneous reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation effect. Meanwhile, HMON@CuS/Gd could efficiently enter GC cells, induce combined mild PTT (43–45 °C) and PDT under mild NIR power density (0.8 W/cm²). Surprisingly, it was found that PTT might not be the only factor of cell apoptosis, as ROS induced by PDT also seemed playing an essential role. The NIR-induced ROS could attack mitochondrial transmembrane potentials (MTPs), then promote mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mitoROS) production. Meanwhile, mitochondrial damage dramatically changed the expression of anti-apoptotic protein (Bcl-2) and pro-apoptotic protein (Bax). Since that, mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) was opened, followed by inducing more cytochrome c (Cyto C) releasing from mitochondria into cytosol, and finally activated caspase-9/caspase-3-depended cell apoptosis pathway. Our in vivo data also showed that HMON@CuS/Gd exhibited good fluorescence (FL) imaging (wrapping fluorescent agent), enhanced T1 imaging under magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and infrared thermal (IRT) imaging capacities. Guided by FL/MRI/IRT trimodal imaging, HMON@CuS/Gd could selectively cause mild photo-therapy at cancer region, efficiently inhibit the growth of GC cells without evident systemic toxicity in vivo.

Conclusion

HMON@CuS/Gd could serve as a promising multifunctional nanotheranostic platform and as a cancer photo-therapy agent through inducing mitochondrial dysfunction on GC.