Department of Chemistry, Capital Normal University , Beijing 100048, PR China.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018 Feb 21;10(7):6155-6167. doi: 10.1021/acsami.7b18320. Epub 2018 Feb 9.
The development of novel and effective cancer treatments will greatly contribute to prolonging and improving patient lives. In this study, a multifunctional nanoplatform was designed and developed based on mesoporous NiO (mNiO) nanoparticles and terbium complexes as an artemisinin (ART) vehicle, a T-weighted contrast agent, and a luminescence imaging probe. mNiO is a novel pH-responsive material that can degrade and release nickel ions (Ni) in an acidic tumor microenvironment. The endoperoxide bridge bond in the structure of ART tends to react with Ni to produce radicals that can kill tumor cells. On the basis of its excellent near-infrared absorbance, mNiO can also be considered as a novel photothermal conversion agent for cancer photothermal therapy (PTT). Compared with free ART or PTT only, this novel agent showed remarkably enhanced antitumor activity in cultured cells and in tumor mice models, owing to the hypoxic tumor microenvironment impelling synergistic therapeutic action. These results provide a novel way of using a promising natural drug-based nanoplatform for synergistic therapy of tumors.
新型有效癌症治疗方法的发展将极大地延长和改善患者的生命。在这项研究中，设计和开发了一种基于介孔 NiO（mNiO）纳米粒子和铽配合物的多功能纳米平台，作为青蒿素（ART）载体、T 加权造影剂和发光成像探针。mNiO 是一种新型 pH 响应材料，可在酸性肿瘤微环境中降解并释放镍离子（Ni）。ART 结构中的过氧桥键倾向于与 Ni 反应生成可以杀死肿瘤细胞的自由基。基于其优异的近红外吸收能力，mNiO 也可以被视为用于癌症光热治疗（PTT）的新型光热转换剂。与游离的 ART 或仅 PTT 相比，由于缺氧肿瘤微环境促使协同治疗作用，这种新型试剂在培养细胞和肿瘤小鼠模型中表现出显著增强的抗肿瘤活性。这些结果为使用有前途的基于天然药物的纳米平台进行肿瘤协同治疗提供了一种新方法。
