The collaborated assembly of hydrophobic curcumin and hydrophilic cyanine dye into nanocolloid for synergistic chemo-photothermal cancer therapy

• Published in: Materials & design Vol. 241; p. 112900
• Main Authors: Zheng, Meichen, Zhang, Jingjing, Deng, Caiting, Chen, Lei, Zhang, Heng, Xin, Jingqi, Aras, Omer, Zhou, Mengjiao, An, Feifei, Ren, Yu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2024; Elsevier
• Subjects: Curcumin; Cyanine dye; Nanocolloid; Near-infrared; Synergistic therapy; Curcumin; Nanocolloid; Cyanine dye; Near-infrared; Synergistic therapy
• ISSN: 0264-1275; 1873-4197
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2024.112900

[Display omitted]
•The water-soluble IR783 molecules can collaborate with the hydrophobic curcumin (Cur) to form carrier-free nanodrug delivery system via π-π stacking.•The yielded nanodrug delivery system exhibited efficient near-infrared fluorescence imaging on tumor and enhanced chemo-photothermal anti-tumor synergistic effect in vivo.•The carrier-free nanodrug delivery system had excellent biocompatibility and blood safety.
Carrier-free nanomedicine represents a new opportunity of using less inert materials for efficient drug delivery. To date, most reported carrier-free nanomedicine systems rely heavily on π-π stacking interaction between hydrophobic drugs. This work found that the hydrophilic IR783 dye can collaborate with the hydrophobic curcumin (Cur) compound to form a novel Cur@IR783 nanocolloid (NC) via self-assembly. The self-assembly of the hydrophilic IR783 and hydrophobic Cur improved the water dispersity of Cur, significantly facilitating its administration in vivo. Moreover, Cur@IR783 NC retained the IR783 properties of NIR fluorescence and photothermal conversion efficiency. Fluorescence imaging demonstrated that Cur@IR783 NC accumulated at the tumor site via the enhanced permeation and retention effect, which ensured enhanced anti-tumor effect. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that the Cur@IR783 NC with laser irradiation yielded the most potent antitumor effect, and Cur@IR783 NC exhibited high biocompatibility. Overall, Cur@IR783 NC showed remarkable synergistic antitumor activity via chemo-photothermal combination therapy, providing a new promising approach for Cur-based applications in cancer treatment.