Biocompatible hypocrellin A-Fe(III) nanoparticles exhibiting efficient photo-activated CDT in vitro and in vivo

• Published in: Dalton transactions : an international journal of inorganic chemistry 2022-02, Vol.51 (8), p.3225-3233
• Main Authors: Wang, Zhanhua, Gao, Chuan, Da, Xuwen, Jian, Yao, Zhang, Chao, Yao, Yishan, Wang, Xuesong, Zhou, Qianxiong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Agents - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Biocompatibility; Cell Line, Tumor; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; Humans; Hydrogen peroxide; Iron; Iron - chemistry; Light irradiation; Metal Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanoparticles; Perylene - analogs & derivatives; Perylene - chemistry; Phenol - chemistry; Photochemical Processes; Quinones - chemistry; Theranostic Nanomedicine; Toxicity
• ISSN: 1477-9226; 1477-9234
• DOI: 10.1039/d1dt03608d

Chemodynamic therapy (CDT) is novel and promising for cancer treatment, however, the potential systematic toxicity of the used nanoparticles is still a big concern. In this work the biocompatible hypocrellin A-Fe(III) nanoparticles (HA-Fe(III) NPs) were synthesized and studied. The CDT effect of HA-Fe(III) NPs in the dark is negligible but can be photo-activated upon red light irradiation, which is meaningful to realize precise CDT treatment by selective light irradiation. Moreover, HA-Fe(III) NPs can also generate O ˙ , which may be converted into H O to further enhance the CDT effect. As a result, HA-Fe(III) NPs had little cytotoxicity in the dark at the concentration up to 200 μg ml , but exhibited efficient CDT activity upon red light irradiation under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. The results also showed that HA-Fe(III) NPs can efficiently inhibit tumor growth upon 628 nm light irradiation.