NIR-II responsive PEGylated nickel nanoclusters for photothermal enhanced chemodynamic synergistic oncotherapy

• Published in: Theranostics Vol. 12; no. 8; pp. 3690 - 3702
• Main Authors: Qian, Yong, Zhang, Jiahui, Zou, Jinglu, Wang, Xingyu, Meng, Xiangfu, Liu, Hongji, Lin, Yefeng, Chen, Qianwang, Sun, Lei, Lin, Wenchu, Wang, Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Australia Ivyspring International Publisher Pty Ltd 01-01-2022; Ivyspring International Publisher
• Subjects: Cancer therapies; Efficiency; Hyperthermia; Magnetic fields; Nanocrystals; Nanomaterials; Nickel; Research Paper; NIR-II photothermal therapy; nickel nanocluster; urchin-like nanostructure; chemodynamic therapy; synergistic effect
• ISSN: 1838-7640; 1838-7640
• DOI: 10.7150/thno.70841

All kinds of non-metal and metal-based nanozymes have been extensively explored as Fenton agents for Chemodynamic therapy (CDT). However, the low catalytic efficiency of non-metallic nanozymes and the susceptibility to oxidation and long-term toxicity of metallo-nanozymes limit their potential in CDT.
In this study, we report a magneto-solvothermal method to tune the crystallinity and shape of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-ylated urchin-like nickel nanoclusters (named as 9T-PUNNC) at a high magnetic field with an intensity of 9 T for enhanced combined photothermal-chemodynamic therapy.
The needle-like protrusions on the surface of 9T-PUNNC can effectively increase the reception of NIR light in second NIR window (NIR-II) and transform it into local hyperthermia, achieving effective photothermal treatment. The light and heat generated by NIR-II further promotes the release of Ni
and improves the ability of Ni
-mediated chemodynamic therapy (CDT). In addition, the surface coating of PEG on the surface of 9T-PUNNC improves its stability and biocompatibility of nanocrystals.
and
results indicate that the 9T-PUNNC could efficiently kill tumor cells (nearly 12 times more than control group) and inhibit tumor growth (nearly 9 times smaller than control group) under NIR-II irradiation through the synergistic effect of combined treatments.
we developed a novel synthetic strategy to tune crystallinity and shape of PUNNC for enhanced NIR-II responsive photothermal conversion efficiency and accelerated acid-induced dissolution for improved ·OH generation. Such 9T-PUNNC enable a combined chemodynamic-photothermal treatment to provide superior therapeutic efficacy due to their highly synergistic effect.