Hyaluronic Acid-Enwrapped Polyoxometalate Complex for Synergistic Near Infrared-II Photothermal/Chemo-Therapy and Chemodynamic Therapy.

To enhance the efficacy of tumor therapy, the collection of functional components into a targeting system shows advantages over most homogeneous materials in inducing apoptosis of cancer cells. The security and targeting of therapeutic agents also require the effect combination of additional components. However, the construction of multifunctional composites in a simple system with intelligent cooperative responsiveness remains a challenge. Herein, a reduced polyanionic cluster (rP2W18) bearing the absorption at the near infrared (NIR) II region is used as a core carrier to bind the positively charged doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) through ionic interaction. To reduce the physiological toxicity, hyaluronic acid grafting ß-cyclodextrin side chains is used to cover the ionic complex through host-guest inclusion to DOX. When the nanocomposite is activated by local laser exposure, the final three-component therapeutic agent is demonstrated to present targeted photothermal conversion capability and chemodynamic activity together with chemotherapy. With the controlled release of DOX under the stimulation of mild acidity in the tumor region and photothermal effect, the exposed rP2W18 is aroused by hydrogen peroxide overexpressed in a tumor microenvironment to produce toxic reactive oxygen species, 1O2. This work presents an opportunity for the development of a nanocomposite in NIR-II photothermal/chemo-therapy and chemodynamic synergistic therapy.

Biocompatible Polymer Nanocomposites Integrating Magnetic Polyoxomolybdates for Enhanced MRI and On-Site Activated Photothermal Properties.

This work reports the ionic composition of a PEGylated and chemically crosslinked polyethyleneimine with a gadolinium-coordinated polyoxomolybdate cluster, K17 [Gd(P2 Mo17 O61 )2 ], via electrostatic interaction. The prepared composites form nanoobjects with an average size of ≈27 nm at dried state and maintain structural stability in aqueous solution. While the biocompatibility on HeLa cells is demonstrated, the polymer-shielded multifunctional nanoplatform shows both the combined magnetic resonance imaging and redox-triggered photothermal conversion effect. As a contrast agent, the T1 -weighed relaxivity reaches up to 22.77 mm-1  s-1 . The photothermal conversion of the prepared composites can be aroused by yielding a broad near infrared (NIR) adsorption through on-site reduction of the glutathione that is enriched in the tumor environment. The high efficiency ≈61.0% under the irradiation of 808 nm NIR laser illustrates a distinct treatment capability according to cell counting Kit-8 assay while the obvious inhibition for the growth of tumor cells is observed.

Charge-Transfer Complex Combining Reduced Cluster with Enhanced Stability for Combined Near-Infrared II Photothermal Therapy.

In the search for materials with enhanced near-infrared (NIR) photothermal properties and capability of providing environment-sensitive therapy, a method that combines isolated components into one nanocomposite is developed. The technique simultaneously involves redox, charge-transfer formation, and ionic complexation. During the polyoxophosphomolybdate (PMo) cluster mixing with biosafe chromogen 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), the reduced state (rPMo) and the oxidized TMB in the state of charge-transfer complex (cTMB) emerge spontaneously. The two reduced and oxidized components with charges form a stable ionic complex that resists physiology, saline, broad pH, and elevated temperature. Both the rPMo and cTMB contribute to the total sustainable photothermal conversion efficiency of 48.4% in the NIR-II region. The ionic complex exhibits biocompatibility in in vitro cell viability evaluation and is demonstrated to enter tumor cells with sustained photothermal property and complexation stability. Due to the local acidity that triggers further interaction among rPMo clusters, a distinct accumulation of the ionic complex at the tumor position is observed after caudal vein injection. Moreover, a remarkable local NIR-II photothermal image appears. The diminishment of tumor in mice with maintained body weight demonstrates the comprehensive effect of this NIR-II photothermal therapeutic material.

Recent advances of polyoxometalates in multi-functional imaging and photothermal therapy.

Polyoxometalates (POMs) as a kind of molecular metal-oxide cluster with precise chemical composition and architecture have been demonstrated to show potential in multidisciplinary materials. Accompanied by their bioactivities, POM clusters have also been shown to be capable of sensing diseases and allowing synergistic therapy based on their redox and near infrared absorption. In parallel with metal nanoparticles and organic materials, these inorganic clusters have also displayed unique photothermal imaging and therapeutic properties over recent years. In this review, we outlined the main achievements of POMs in the fields of bio-detecting probes and the photothermal effect. Fluorescence detection, magnetic resonance, computed tomography, and photothermal property-supported photoacoustic imaging acting as a multifunction platform that integrates photothermal therapy (PTT) were discussed at the same time. The comparison of nanocomposites to POMs alone in imaging-guided PTT, multi-modal imaging, and the combination of PTT with controlled chemotherapy and gas therapy were described in detail. The advantages and possible drawbacks of POMs as well as perspectives in related areas were analyzed, which ascertained such clusters to be a type of promising agent in biomedical applications.

Nanocomposites of ionic copolymer integrating Gd-containing polyoxometalate as a multiple platform for enhanced MRI and pH-response chemotherapy.

This article describes the fabrication of nanosized paramagnetic drug carriers via the assembly of a pH-responsive hydrophilic block copolymer poly(polyethylene glycol methyl ether methacrylate)-b-poly(methacrylic acid-co-trimethyl ammonium bromide propyl methacrylate) (PPMT) and polyoxometalate K13[Gd(ß2-SiW11O39)2] (GdSiW11) through electrostatic interaction. Owing to the hydrophilicity, large molecular weight, and high content of the GdSiW11 cluster bearing in the nanocomposites, the organic-inorganic nanocomposite exhibited an impressive longitudinal relaxivity as a contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The surplus negative charges from the polyoxometalate cluster in the polymer nanocomposites facilitated the capture of the anti-tumor drug doxorubicin (DOX). The DOX-loaded nanocomposites were stable under the physiological environment, whereas a responsive release of DOX was achieved at pH values similar to the tumor microenvironment due to the regulation of the polyoxometalate and carboxyl groups. The DOX-loaded PPMT2-GdSiW11 nanocomposites were observed to enrich effectively at tumor sites through MRI after intravenous injection. Furthermore, the DOX-loaded composites manifested enhanced in vivo anti-tumor therapeutic efficacy and sustainable circulation time of more than 5 h, which were favourable for imaging measurement. With the advantages of the designed composite system, the present experiments propose a strategy for developing a new multiple imaging-drug delivery-local therapy platform for synergistic diagnosis and therapy.