DNA and RNA Stability of Marine Microalgae in Cold-Stored Sediments and Its Implications in Metabarcoding Analyses.

The ever-increasing applications of metabarcoding analyses for environmental samples demand a well-designed assessment of the stability of DNA and RNA contained in cells that are deposited or buried in marine sediments. We thus conducted a qPCR quantification of the DNA and RNA in the vegetative cells of three microalgae entrapped in facsimile marine sediments and found that >90% of DNA and up to 99% of RNA for all microalgal species were degraded within 60 days at 4 °C. A further examination of the potential interference of the relic DNA of the vegetative cells with resting cyst detection in sediments was performed via a metabarcoding analysis in artificial marine sediments spiked with the vegetative cells of two Kareniaceae dinoflagellates and the resting cysts of another three dinoflagellates. The results demonstrated a dramatic decrease in the relative abundances of the two Kareniaceae dinoflagellates in 120 days, while those of the three resting cysts increased dramatically. Together, our results suggest that a positive detection of microalgae via metabarcoding analysis in DNA or RNA extracted from marine sediments strongly indicates the presence of intact or viable cysts or spores due to the rapid decay of relic DNA/RNA. This study provides a solid basis for the data interpretation of metabarcoding surveys, particularly in resting cyst detection.

Characterizing the Status of Energetic Metabolism of Dinoflagellate Resting Cysts under Mock Conditions of Marine Sediments via Physiological and Transcriptional Measurements.

Similar to the seeds of higher plants, resting cysts, a non-motile, benthic, and dormant stage in the life history of many dinoflagellate species, play vital roles via germination in the seasonal dynamics and particularly the initiation of harmful algal blooms (HABs) of dinoflagellates. It is thus crucial for resting cysts to balance between the energetic catabolism for viability maintenance and the energy preservation for germination during their dormancy. Despite this importance, studies on how resting cysts of dinoflagellates accomplish energetic metabolism in marine sediment have been virtually absent. In this study, using the cosmopolitan HABs-causing species Scrippsiella acuminata as a representative, we measured the transcriptional activity of the most efficient pathway of the energy catabolism tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, cell viability (via neutral red staining), and the cellular ATP content of resting cysts under a set of mock conditions in marine sediments (e.g., 4 °C, darkness, and anoxia) for a maximum period of one year. Based on the correlation analyses among the expression levels of genes, cyst viability, and ATP content, we revealed that the TCA cycle was still a crucial pathway of energetic catabolism for resting cysts under aerobic conditions, and its expression was elevated at higher temperatures, light irradiation, and the early stage of dormancy. Under anaerobic conditions, however, the TCA cycle pathway ceased expression in resting cysts, as also supported by ATP measurements. Our results have laid a cornerstone for the comprehensive revelation of the energetic metabolism and biochemical processes of dormancy of resting cysts in marine sediments.

Deficiency of nitrogen but not phosphorus triggers the life cycle transition of the dinoflagellate Scrippsiella acuminata from vegetative growth to resting cyst formation.

Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are essential elements for algal growth. When N and P are deficient, dinoflagellates will take a series of measures to achieve population continuation including formation of resting cysts, an important ecological strategy of dinoflagellates that plays a key role in the initiation and termination of harmful algal blooms (HABs). How the deficiency of N and P affects algal growth and cyst formation has been investigated in some dinoflagellate species, but how it affects the life cycle transition in dinoflagellates has been poorly understood. In this study, we further explored the effect of N and P deficiency on the algal growth and resting cyst production in the cosmopolitan HABs-causing species Scrippsiella acuminata via refining the N and P concentration gradients. Further, we tracked the expression patterns of one CyclinB and one CDK1 genes of S. acuminata at different growth stages under three deficiency concentrations (1/1000 dilutions of N, P, and both N and P). The results suggest that N deficiency always triggered the cyst formation but P deficiency mainly inhibited the vegetative growth instead of inducing cyst formation. We also observed the highest cyst production when S. acuminata was cultured in the f/2-Si medium that was a one-thousandth dilution of N and P (N∼ 0.882 µM; P∼ 0.0362 µM). Our results for the expressions of CyclinB and CDK1 were well consistent with the results of algal growth and cyst formation at different deficiencies of N and P in terms of that higher expressions of these two genes were corresponding to higher rates of vegetative cell growth, while their expressions in resting cysts maintained to be moderate but significantly lower than that in fast-growing vegetative cells. Although we are still not sure whether the changing expressions of the two genes did regulate the transition of life cycle (i.e. cyst formation), or happened as parallels to the expressions of other truly regulating genes, our observations are surely inspirational for further investigations on the genetic regulation of life cycle transition in dinoflagellates. Our work will provide clues to probe the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying the nutrient deficiency-induced alternation between life cycle stages in dinoflagellates.

Expression Patterns of the Heat Shock Protein 90 (Hsp90) Gene Suggest Its Possible Involvement in Maintaining the Dormancy of Dinoflagellate Resting Cysts.

Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a highly conserved molecular chaperone functioning in cellular structural folding and conformational integrity maintenance and thus plays vital roles in a variety of biological processes. However, many aspects of these functions and processes remain to be fully elucidated, particularly for non-model organisms. Dinoflagellates are a group of eukaryotes that are exceedingly important in primary production and are responsible for the most harmful algal blooms (HABs) in aquatic ecosystems. The success of dinoflagellates in dominating the plankton community is undoubtedly pertinent to their remarkable adaptive strategies, characteristic of resting cyst production and broad tolerance to stresses of temperature and others. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the putative roles of Hsp90 in the acclimation to temperature stress and life stage alterations of dinoflagellates. Firstly, we isolated the full-length cDNA of an Hsp90 gene (StHsp90) via RACE from the cosmopolitan HAB species Scrippsiella trochoidea and tracked its transcriptions in response to varied scenarios via real-time qPCR. The results indicated that StHsp90 displayed significant mRNA augment patterns, escalating during 180-min treatments, when the cells were exposed to elevated and lowered temperatures. Secondly, we observed prominently elevated StHsp90 transcriptions in the cysts that were stored at the cold and dark conditions compared to those in newly formed resting cysts and vegetative cells. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we identified 29 entries of Hsp90-encoding genes with complete coding regions from a dinoflagellate-specific environmental cDNA library generated from marine sediment assemblages. The observed active transcription of these genes in sediment-buried resting cysts was fully supported by the qPCR results for the cold-stored resting cysts of S. trochoidea. Hsp90s expressions in both laboratory-raised and field-collected cysts collectively highlighted the possible involvement and engagement of Hsp90 chaperones in the resting stage persistence of dinoflagellates.

Dual-targeted lung cancer therapy via inhalation delivery of UCNP-siRNA-AS1411 nanocages.

OBJECTIVE: Although great progress has been made in the field of siRNA gene therapy, safe, efficient, and targeted delivery of siRNA are still major challenges in siRNA therapeutics. METHODS: We developed an up-conversion nanoparticle-based nanocage system. This system protected the siRNA from being degraded by nucleases in organisms and selectively delivered the siRNAs to the tumor sites, due to modifications of targeted molecules on the surfaces of nanocages and local inhalation. RESULTS: The siRNAs delivered by the up-conversion nanoparticle nanocages were protected from degradation in transit to the tumor sites, where they accumulated. Compared with the passive target and control groups, the up-conversion nanoparticles based on the nanocage system showed a tumor suppressive effect after approximately 3 weeks of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The up-conversion nanoparticle nanocages efficiently delivered vascular endothelial growth factor siRNAs to tumor sites. Mice with lung tumors treated with tumors targeting up-conversion nanoparticle nanocages showed steady body weight changes, high tumor inhibition ratios, and longer survival times.

Au-siRNA@ aptamer nanocages as a high-efficiency drug and gene delivery system for targeted lung cancer therapy.

BACKGROUND: Gene and chemical therapy has become one of the rising stars in the field of molecular medicine during the last two decades. However, there are still numerous challenges in the development of efficient, targeted, and safe delivery systems that can avoid siRNA degradation and reduce the toxicity and adverse effects of chemotherapy medicine. RESULTS: In this paper, a highly efficient AS1411 aptamer modified, dsDNA and MMP-2 cleavable peptide-fabricated gold nanocage vehicle, which could load doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) and siRNAs to achieve a combination of tumor responsive genetic therapy, chemotherapy, and photothermal treatment is presented. Our results show that this combined treatment achieved targeted gene silencing and tumor inhibition. After nearly one month of treatment with DOX-loaded Au-siRNA-PAA-AS1411 nanoparticles with one dose every three days in mice, a synergistic effect promoting the eradication of long-lived tumors was observed along with an increased survival rate of mice. The combined genetic, chemotherapeutic, and photothermal treatment group exhibited more than 90% tumor inhibition ratio (tumor signal) and a ~ 67% survival rate compared with a 30% tumor inhibition ratio and a 0% survival rate in the passive genetic treatment group. CONCLUSIONS: The development of nanocarriers with double-stranded DNA and MMP-2 cleavable peptides provides a new strategy for the combined delivery of gene and chemotherapy medicine. Au-siRNA-PAA-AS1411 exerts high anticancer activities on lung cancer, indicating immense potentials for clinical application.

Effect of impregnation sequence of Pd/Ce/γ-Al2O3 sorbents on Hg0 removal from coal derived fuel gas.

This study attempted to investigate the effect of impregnation sequence of the Pd/Ce/γ-Al2O3 sorbents on Hg0 removal. To this end, five kinds of sorbents were prepared and tested in simulated coal derived fuel gas (N2-H2-CO-H2S-Hg), including Pd/γ-Al2O3, Ce/γ-Al2O3 and three kinds of Pd-based sorbents with Ce impregnation on γ-Al2O3 substrate. The tests were conducted at 250 and 300 °C respectively. According to the results, bimetallic Ce-Pd/γ-Al2O3 sorbent prepared by simultaneously impregnating Pd and Ce showed much higher and more stable removal efficiency of Hg0 than the other three kinds of sorbents. The Hg0 removal efficiency of Ce-Pd/γ-Al2O3 sorbent reached above 98% within 480 min at 250 °C and 91% within 200 min at 300 °C. Characterization results indicated that the sorbent Ce-Pd/γ-Al2O3 prepared by the co-impregnation method had bigger specific surface area (216.6 m2/g) than the other three kinds of Pd-based sorbents. The content Pd and Ce on the sorbent Ce-Pd/γ-Al2O3 surface is 0.21% and 0.61%, which proved higher than that of the other three kinds of Pd-based sorbents, and observation from STEM-XEDS maps showed it demonstrated the highest dispersion. It is found that Ce is likely to promote the dispersion of Pd on the support surface during the preparation of the sorbent under the co-impregnation method. Meanwhile, Ce enhanced the H2S resistance of the sorbent. Thereby, Ce-Pd/γ-Al2O3 sorbent is found to have the optimal performance of mercury removal. In this study, the Hg0 removal mechanism of the Pd/Ce/γ-Al2O3 sorbents in the simulated coal derived fuel gas was also elaborated.

Effects of gold nanoprism-assisted human PD-L1 siRNA on both gene down-regulation and photothermal therapy on lung cancer.

Gold nanoprisms (GNPs) have been broadly studied for the potential applications in both imaging and treatment on tumors due to their special characteristics. Herein we reported that a new nanoplatform GNPs@PSS/PDADMAC-siRNA (GNPs-siRNA) was designed and fabricated by sequentially coating the GNPs with poly (sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) and poly (-diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) to carry small interfering RNA (siRNA). Human program death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) was recently known to be crucial for cancer cell survival through the intrinsic signaling activities, besides serving as an important checkpoint gene in immune system. We successfully attached the human PD-L1 siRNA to the surface of GNPs@PSS/PDADMAC to obtain the GNPs-hPD-L1 siRNA nanoplatform. Real Time Cellular Analysis (RTCA) assay demonstrated that GNPs-hPD-L1 siRNA exhibited remarkable capacity to inhibit the proliferation of human lung cancer cells. Subsequent in vitro and in vivo experiments verified that the GNPs-hPD-L1 siRNA not only functioned as a carrier for siRNA delivery to down-regulate the hPD-L1 expression, but also served for photoacoustic (PA) imaging and photothermal agents for photothermal therapy (PTT) in both human lung cancer cells and human lung cancer cells-derived tumors. Our findings could be expected to provide an innovative direction for future clinical transformation application. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: To our knowledge, this is the first paper related to the hPD-L1 siRNA delivery combined with the gold nanoparticles, especially the gold nanoprisms. The as-prepared GNPs-hPD-L1 siRNA nanoplatform not only functioned as a carrier for siRNA delivery to down-regulate the PD-L1 expression, but also acted as photothermal agents for theranostic effects in both human lung cancer cells and human lung cancer cells-derived tumors. The as-prepared GNPs-hPD-L1 siRNA nanoplatform could knock down human PD-L1 gene expression, which caused the inhibition on proliferation of human lung cancer cell in vitro or in vivo. The as-prepared GNPs-hPD-L1 siRNA nanoplatform possessed excellent photoacoustic imaging ability and photothermal therapy effects.

Investigation of the Viability of Cells upon Co-Exposure to Gold and Iron Oxide Nanoparticles.

Cell lines were exposed either to mixtures of gold and iron oxide nanoparticles, or to a hybrid nanoparticle with gold and iron oxide domain. In the case of simultaneous exposure to gold and iron oxide nanoparticles, enhanced toxicity as compared to the exposure to only one type of nanoparticles was observed. An indication was found that, at equivalent concentrations, the hybrid nanoparticles may slightly reduce cell viability more strongly than mixtures of both nanoparticle types. The results suggest that composite nanomaterials, in which different materials are present in particle form, need to be analyzed carefully, as not only the concentration of the respective materials but also their arrangement may influence their toxicity.

Mitochondria-targeting near-infrared light-triggered thermosensitive liposomes for localized photothermal and photodynamic ablation of tumors combined with chemotherapy.

Lonidamine, an anticancer drug that acts on mitochondria, has poor water solubility. Mitochondria are the primary source of cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are necessary for photodynamic therapy. Hence, a mitochondria-targeting drug delivery system loaded with Lonidamine and a ROS-produced photosensitizer could improve the bioavailability of Lonidamine and maximize photodynamic therapeutic efficiency. Here we report, for the first time, new IR-780 and Lonidamine encapsulated mitochondria-targeting thermosensitive liposomes (IL-TTSL). DSPE-PEG2000-NH2 was coupled with triphenylphosphine to form DSPE-PEG2K-TPP. The liposomes (IL-TTSL) were self-assembled from DPPC, DSPC, DSPE-PEG2K-TPP, cholesterol, IR-780 and Lonidamine. Coupled linker modified triphenylphosphine (TPP) is cationic and can selectively accumulate several hundred-fold within mitochondria. Once the liposomes are located inside mitochondria, 808 nm laser irradiation could trigger photosensitizer IR-780 to elevate the local temperature, which could be utilized in photothermal therapy and induce the release of Lonidamine from the thermosensitive liposomes. Meanwhile, IR-780 could release ROS for photodynamic therapy in mitochondria and increase photodynamic therapeutic efficiency. Our results showed that the surface modification of the liposomes with triphenylphosphine cations had good mitochondria-targeting ability. The liposomes exhibited good biocompatibility and all components of the empty liposomes were safe to be used in humans. Few reports were related to IR-780 being used in photodynamic therapy and we proved this function of IR-780. Overall, the stealth liposomes provide a promising new strategy to realize mitochondria-targeting thermosensitive chemo-, photodynamic and photothermal combination therapy with a single light source for lung cancer.

ROS-Responsive Mitochondria-Targeting Blended Nanoparticles: Chemo- and Photodynamic Synergistic Therapy for Lung Cancer with On-Demand Drug Release upon Irradiation with a Single Light Source.

Mitochondria in cancer cells maintain a more negative membrane potential than normal cells. Mitochondria are the primary source of cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are necessary for photodynamic therapy. Thus, the strategy of targeting mitochondria can maximize the photodynamic therapeutic efficiency for cancer. Here we report, for the first time, synthesis of a new mitochondria-targeting drug delivery system, ZnPc/CPT-TPPNPs. To synthesize this novel compound, polyethylene glycol was functionalized with thioketal linker-modified camptothecin (TL-CPT) and triphenylphosphonium to form the block copolymer, TL-CPT-PEG1K-TPP. The ZnPc/CPT-TPPNPs was constructed for delivery of the photosensitizer Zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) by blending the block copolymer TL-CPT-PEG1K-TPP with 1, 2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[methoxy (polyethylene glycol)] (DSPE-PEG).Triphenylphosphine can accumulate selectively several hundred-fold within mitochondria. The thioketal linker is ROS-responsive and CPT can be released upon ROS cleavage. We also show that the ZnPc loaded in ZnPc/CPT-TPPNPs absorbed the 633 nm laser to produce ROS, which could be utilized both in photodynamic therapy and to cleave the thioketal linker thereby releasing camptothecin for chemotherapy. Thus, the mitochondria-targeting nanoparticles could elevate photodynamic therapeutic efficacy. Our results showed that surface modification of the nanoparticles with triphenylphosphine cations facilitated efficient subcellular delivery of the photosensitizer to mitochondria. The nanoparticles had a good ROS-responsive effect to release CPT, which could transfer to the nucleus and interfere with DNA replication as a topoisomeraseⅠinhibitor. Thus, the blended nanoparticles provide a new promising approach as a mitochondria-targeting ROS-activated chemo- and photodynamic therapy with a single light source for lung cancer.

Superparamagnetic Fe3O4-PEG2K-FA@Ce6 Nanoprobes for in Vivo Dual-mode Imaging and Targeted Photodynamic Therapy.

The development of targeted nanoprobes is a promising approach to cancer diagnostics and therapy. In the present work, a novel multifunctional photo/magnet-diagnostic nanoprobe (MNPs-PEG2K-FA@Ce6) has been developed. This nanoprobe is built using folic acid (FA), bifunctional polyethylene glycol (PEG2K) and photosensitizer chlorin e6 (Ce6). The MNPs-PEG2K-FA@Ce6 nanoprobes are superparamagnetic, can be synthesized on a large scale by a one-pot hydrothermal process without further surface modification and are stable in an aqueous environment for eight months. Compared with free Ce6 nanoprobes in vitro studies, the MNPs-PEG2K-FA@Ce6 nanoprobes significantly enhance cellular uptake efficiency and promote the effectiveness of photodynamic therapy (PDT) with the assistance of 633 nm laser irradiation. The unique nanoprobes show superior penetration and a retention time of more than six days with less accumulation in the liver allowing highly effective tumor recognition and monitoring. Additionally, there was little damage to healthy organs or tissues. These exciting new nanoprobes could be potential building blocks to develop new clinical therapies and translational medicine.

Human CIK Cells Loaded with Au Nanorods as a Theranostic Platform for Targeted Photoacoustic Imaging and Enhanced Immunotherapy and Photothermal Therapy.

How to realize targeted photoacoustic imaging, enhanced immunotherapy, and photothermal therapy of gastric cancer has become a great challenge. Herein, we reported for the first time that human cytokine-induced killer cells (CIK) loaded with gold nanorods were used for targeted photoacoustic imaging, enhanced immunotherapy, and photothermal therapy of gastric cancer. Silica-modified gold nanorods were prepared; then incubated with human cytokine-induced killer cells (CIK), resultant human CIK cells loaded with Au nanorods were evaluated for their cytotoxicity, targeted ability of gastric cancer in vitro and in vivo, immunotherapy, and photothermal therapy efficacy. In vitro cell experiment shows that human CIK cells labeled with gold nanorods actively target gastric cancer MGC803 cells, inhibit growth of MGC803 cells by inducing cell apoptosis, and kill MGC803 cells under low power density near-infrared (NIR) laser treatment (808-nm continuous wave laser, 1.5 W/cm(2), 3 min). In vivo experiment results showed that human CIK cells labeled with gold nanorods could target actively and image subcutaneous gastric cancer vessels via photoacoustic imaging at 4 h post-injection, could enhance immunotherapy efficacy by up-regulating cytokines such as IL-1, IL-12, IL-2, IL-4, IL-17, and IFN-γ, and kill gastric cancer tissues by photothermal therapy via direct injection into tumor site under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. High-performance human CIK cells labeled with Au nanorods are a good novel theranostic platform to exhibit great potential in applications such as tumor-targeted photoacoustic imaging, enhanced immunotherapy, and photothermal therapy in the near future.

Near-Infrared Light Triggered ROS-activated Theranostic Platform based on Ce6-CPT-UCNPs for Simultaneous Fluorescence Imaging and Chemo-Photodynamic Combined Therapy.

Many drug controlled release methods have been integrated in multifunctional nanoparticles, such as pH-, redox-, temperature-, enzyme-, and light-responsive release. However, few report is associated with the ROS responsive drug controlled release. Herein, a thioketal linker-based ROS responsive drug (camptothecin conjugated with thioketal linker, abbreviated as TL-CPT) was prepared and the thioketal linker could be cleaved by ROS(reactive oxygen species). To achieve cancer simultaneous optical imaging, photodynamic therapy and chemotherapy, the photosensitizer Chlorin e6(Ce6), TL-CPT and carboxyl-mPEG were loaded on the upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), which were named as Ce6-CPT-UCNPs. Under 980 nm laser irradiation, Ce6-CPT-UCNPs emitted a narrow emission band at 645-675 nm which was overlapped with Ce6 absorption peak. Ce6 absorbed the light to produce ROS, which was used for photodynamic therapy and to cleave the thioketal linker in Ce6-CPT-UCNPs to release camptothecin for chemotherapy. Meanwhile, Ce6 absorbed the light, was used for near-infrared fluorescence imaging. The in vivo biodistribution studies showed that the prepared nanoparticles had high orthotopic lung cancer targeting efficiency. The in vivo therapeutic results demonstrated that NCI-H460 lung cancers could be completely eliminated by combining chemo- and photodynamic therapy under 980 nm laser irradiation. The prepared multifunctional Ce6-CPT-UCNPs have great potential in applications such as cancer targeted fluorescent imaging, simultaneous ROS activated chemo- and photodynamic therapy in near future.

Smac therapeutic Peptide nanoparticles inducing apoptosis of cancer cells for combination chemotherapy with Doxorubicin.

Smac-conjugated nanoparticle (Smac-NP) was designed to induce the apoptosis of cancer cells and as a drug carrier for combination therapy. It contained three parts, a SmacN7 peptide which could induce apoptosis of cancer cells by interacting with XIAPs, the cell penetrating domain rich in arginine, and four hydrophobic tails for self-assembled Smac-NP. We demonstrated that Smac-NPs exerted an antitumor effect in breast cancer cell MDA-MB-231 and nonsmall lung cancer (NSCLC) cell H460, which efficiently inhibited cancer cells proliferation without influencing normal liver cell lines LO2. Smac-NPs also significantly induced apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 and H460 cells through activating pro-caspase-3, down-regulating the expression of antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 and up-regulating the pro-apoptotic protein Bax. Furthermore, Smac-NPs could be explored as a drug delivery system to load hydrophobic drug such as DOX for combination therapy. The DOX-loaded nanoparticles (DOX-Smac-NPs) exhibited higher cellular uptake efficiency and antitumor effect. Our work provided a new insight into therapeutic peptides integrated with drug simultaneously in one system for cancer combination treatment.

A folate-integrated magnetic polymer micelle for MRI and dual targeted drug delivery.

This paper devotes a novel micellar structure for cancer theranostics by incorporating magnetic and therapeutic functionalities into a natural sourced targeting polymer vehicle. Heparin-folic acid micelles taking advantage of both excellent loading capability and cancer targeting ability have been employed to simultaneously incorporate superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) and doxorubicin through an ultrasonication-assisted microemulsion method. In this system, folic acids not only take the responsibility of micelle construction, but also facilitate cellular uptake due to their specific reorganization by MCF-7 cells over-expressing folate receptors. The obtained micelles exhibit good colloidal stability, a high magnetic content, considerable drug loading and sustained in vitro drug release. These clustered SPIONs exhibited high r2 relaxivity (243.65 mM(-1) s(-1)) and further served as efficient probes for MR imaging. Notably, the transport efficiency of these micelles could be significantly improved under an external magnetic field, owing to their quick magnetic response. As a result, the as-proposed micelle shows great potential in multimodal theranostics, including active targeting, MRI diagnosis and drug delivery.

Improving drug accumulation and photothermal efficacy in tumor depending on size of ICG loaded lipid-polymer nanoparticles.

A key challenge to strengthen anti-tumor efficacy is to improve drug accumulation in tumors through size control. To explore the biodistribution and tumor accumulation of nanoparticles, we developed indocyanine green (ICG) loaded poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) -lecithin-polyethylene glycol (PEG) core-shell nanoparticles (INPs) with 39 nm, 68 nm and 116 nm via single-step nanoprecipitation. These INPs exhibited good monodispersity, excellent fluorescence and size stability, and enhanced temperature response after laser irradiation. Through cell uptake and photothermal efficiency in vitro, we demonstrated that 39 nm INPs were more easily be absorbed by pancreatic carcinoma tumor cells (BxPC-3) and showed better photothermal damage than that of 68 nm and 116 nm size of INPs. Simultaneously, the fluorescence of INPs offered a real-time imaging monitor for subcellular locating and in vivo metabolic distribution. Near-infrared imaging in vivo and photothermal therapy illustrated that 68 nm INPs showed the strongest efficiency to suppress tumor growth due to abundant accumulation in BxPC-3 xenograft tumor model. The findings revealed that a nontoxic, size-dependent, theranostic INPs model was built for in vivo cancer imaging and photothermal therapy without adverse effect.

Robust ICG theranostic nanoparticles for folate targeted cancer imaging and highly effective photothermal therapy.

Folic acid (FA)-targeted indocyanine green (ICG)-loaded nanoparticles (NPs) (FA-INPs) were developed to a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence theranostic nanoprobe for targeted imaging and photothermal therapy of cancer. The FA-INPs with good monodispersity exhibited excellent size and fluorescence stability, preferable temperature response under laser irradiation, and specific molecular targeting to MCF-7 cells with FA receptor overexpression, compared to free ICG. The FA-INPs enabled NIR fluorescence imaging to in situ monitor the tumor accumulation of the ICG. The cell survival rate assays in vitro and photothermal therapy treatments in vivo indicated that FA-INPs could efficiently targeted and suppressed MCF-7 cells and xenograft tumors. Hence, the FA-INPs are notable theranostic NPs for imaging-guided cancer therapy in clinical application.

IR-780 dye loaded tumor targeting theranostic nanoparticles for NIR imaging and photothermal therapy.

IR-780 iodide is a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence dye with higher and more stable fluorescence intensity than clinically applied dye indocyanine green (ICG). Meanwhile, IR-780 can be utilized in photothermal therapy with laser irradiation. IR-780 is an important theranostic agent but its lipophilicity limited its application. In this paper, we synthesize multifunctional heparin-folic acid-IR-780 nanoparticles (HF-IR-780 NPs) by self-assembly of the heparin-folic acid conjugate and IR-780 through ultrasonic sound method. The HF-IR-780 NPs exhibit good monodispersity, significant stability, and excellent molecular targeting to folate receptor over-expressing MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, the in vivo biodistribution experiments show that the HF-IR-780 NPs are specifically targeted to the tumor and can be used for tumor imaging. The in vitro cell viability assays and in vivo photothermal therapy experiments indicate that MCF-7 cells or MCF-7 xenograft tumors could be ablated by combining HF-IR-780 NPs with irradiation of an 808 nm laser. The photothermal therapy in vivo with a single-dose treatment has not caused significant adverse effect. The resulted HF-IR-780 NPs are a potential theranostic agent for imaging-guided cancer therapy.

Dextran based sensitive theranostic nanoparticles for near-infrared imaging and photothermal therapy in vitro.

Indocyanine green (ICG) nanoparticles were developed via electrostatic interactions of ICG and dextran based block copolymers (PEG-dextran(-SS-NH2)) as near-infrared (NIR) theranostic nanoparticles. The nanoparticles could be activated from "OFF" to "ON" of NIR fluorescence in an intracellular environment and used for NIR imaging and photothermal therapy.