Albumin-based nanosystem for dual-modality imaging-guided chem-phototherapy against immune-cold triple-negative breast cancer

• Published in: Regenerative biomaterials 2023, Vol.10
• Main Authors: Peng, Chen, Zeng, Xiaodie, Cai, Jiali, Huang, Hanyu, Yang, Fan, Jin, Shaowen, Guan, Xiuhong, Wang, Zhiyong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2056-3426; 2056-3418; 2056-3426
• DOI: 10.1093/rb/rbad073

Abstract Triple-negative breast cancer is a highly aggressive and metastatic tumor; diagnosing it in the early stages is still difficult, and the prognosis for conventional radio-chemotherapy and immunotreatment is not promising due to cancer’s immunosuppressive microenvironment. The utilization of protein-based nanosystem has proven to be effective in delivering agents with limited adverse effects, yet the combination of diagnosis and treatment remains a difficult challenge. This research took advantage of natural albumin and organic molecules to construct a self-assemble core-shell nanostructure combining with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanocrystals and heptamethine cyanine dye IR780 through non-covalent interactions. This nanocomposite successfully decreased the transverse relaxation time of the magnetic resonance hydrogen nucleus, resulting in outstanding T2 imaging, as well as emitting near-infrared II fluorescence, thereby the resulting dual-modality imaging tool was applied to improve diagnostic competency. It is noteworthy that the nanocomposites exhibited impressive enzyme-like catalytic and photothermal capabilities, resulting in a successful activation of the immune system to efficiently suppress distant metastatic lesions in vivo. Consequently, this nano-drug-based therapy could be an advantageous asset in reinforcing the immune system and hindering the growth and reappearance of the immune-cold breast cancer. Graphical Abstract