School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China.
School of Life Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, China.
Nat Commun. 2022 Sep 30;13(1):5735. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-33474-8.
Theranostic sonosensitizers with combined sonodynamic and near infrared (NIR) imaging modes are required for imaging guided sonodynamic therapy (SDT). It is challenging, however, to realize a single material that is simultaneously endowed with both NIR emitting and sonodynamic activities. Herein, we report the design of a class of NIR-emitting sonosensitizers from a NIR phosphorescent carbon dot (CD) material with a narrow bandgap (1.62 eV) and long-lived excited triplet states (11.4 μs), two of which can enhance SDT as thermodynamically and dynamically favorable factors under low-intensity ultrasound irradiation, respectively. The NIR-phosphorescent CDs are identified as bipolar quantum dots containing both p- and n-type surface functionalization regions that can drive spatial separation of e-h pairs and fast transfer to reaction sites. Importantly, the cancer-specific targeting and high-level intratumor enrichment of the theranostic CDs are achieved by cancer cell membrane encapsulation for precision SDT with complete eradication of solid tumors by single injection and single irradiation. These results will open up a promising approach to engineer phosphorescent materials with long-lived triplet excited states for sonodynamic precision tumor therapy.
用于声动力学治疗（SDT）的成像引导的治疗与诊断一体化声敏剂需要同时具有声动力学和近红外（NIR）成像两种模式。然而，实现同时具有 NIR 发光和声动力学活性的单一材料极具挑战性。在此，我们报道了一类 NIR 发光声敏剂的设计，它源自具有窄带隙（1.62 eV）和长寿命激发三重态（11.4 μs）的 NIR 磷光碳点（CD）材料，其中两种材料可分别作为热力学和动力学有利因素在低强度超声辐射下增强 SDT。NIR 磷光 CDs 被鉴定为双极量子点，包含 p 型和 n 型表面功能化区域，可驱动电子-空穴对的空间分离并快速转移到反应位点。重要的是，通过细胞膜包封实现了治疗性 CD 的肿瘤特异性靶向和高水平的肿瘤内蓄积，从而通过单次注射和单次辐照实现了对实体瘤的完全清除，达到精准 SDT。这些结果将为具有长寿命三重态激发态的磷光材料的声动力学精准肿瘤治疗开辟一条有前景的途径。
