Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
Center of Excellence for Research in Regenerative Medicine and Applications (CERRMA), Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
Oral Dis. 2023 Nov;29(8):3243-3258. doi: 10.1111/odi.14324. Epub 2022 Aug 5.
Zinc sulfide nanoparticles (ZnS NPs), as one of the quantum dots less than 10 nm, possess unique size-dependent autofluorescence. Excitation of their valence electrons by energy higher than the bandgap reveals the ZnS NPs' inherited photocatalysis with additive cytotoxic consequences of reactive oxygen species (ROS) release. Coupling the cytotoxicity of photoactivated ZnS NPs with their autofluorescence would be a novel theranostic modality, combating superficially accessible carcinoma.
After synthesizing and characterization of ZnS NPs, we verified their photocatalysis and electron donation upon UV excitation in degrading organic dye and DNA cleavage, respectively. We then tested the efficacy of UV-activated ZnS NPs to induce ROS-dependent apoptosis in squamous cell carcinoma and breast cancer cell lines.
The energetic electron-hole pairs generated upon UV excitation of ZnS NPs with the consequent cascade of ROS release revealed potent apoptotic cancer cell deaths, compared with single treatment modalities of nonexcited nanoparticles and UV. Moreover, the inherited luminescence of ZnS NPs enabled visualization of their predominant intracytoplasmic uptake with tracking of their cellular response.
The intensified luminescence and the fortified cytotoxicity of photoactivated ZnS NPs enhance their theranostic qualifications, boosting their antitumorigenic use.
硫化锌纳米粒子（ZnS NPs）作为小于 10nm 的量子点之一，具有独特的尺寸依赖性自发荧光。激发其价电子的能量高于带隙，揭示了 ZnS NPs 的固有光催化作用，并伴有活性氧（ROS）释放的附加细胞毒性后果。将光激活的 ZnS NPs 的细胞毒性与其自发荧光相结合，将是一种新的治疗诊断模式，可对抗表面可及的癌。
合成并表征 ZnS NPs 后，我们分别通过有机染料的降解和 DNA 断裂，验证了它们在 UV 激发下的光催化作用和电子供体作用。然后，我们测试了 UV 激活的 ZnS NPs 在诱导鳞状细胞癌和乳腺癌细胞系中 ROS 依赖性细胞凋亡方面的功效。
ZnS NPs 在 UV 激发下产生的高能电子空穴对，随后引发 ROS 释放，导致强烈的凋亡性癌细胞死亡，与非激发纳米粒子和 UV 的单一治疗方式相比，效果显著。此外，ZnS NPs 的固有发光使其能够可视化其主要的细胞质内摄取，并跟踪其细胞反应。
光激活的 ZnS NPs 的增强发光和强化细胞毒性提高了它们的治疗诊断特性，增强了其抗肿瘤作用。
