Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Near-infrared light-activated cancer cell targeting and drug delivery with aptamer-modified nanostructures

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Nano Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Stimuli-activated targeted delivery systems for highly accurate treatment of tumors have received considerable attention in recent years. Herein, we reveal a light-activable cancer-targeting strategy that uses a complementary DNA sequence to hybridize and mask sgc8 aptamers conjugated onto photothermal agents such as gold nanorods or single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). Upon exposure to near-infrared (NIR) laser, localized photothermal heating of the surface of those nano-agents results in dehybridization of the double-stranded DNA and uncaging of the aptamer sequence to allow specific cancer-cell targeting. Utilizing doxorubicin-loaded SWNTs as a model system, targeted drug delivery to cancer cells activated by NIR light was achieved. This work demonstrates the concept of NIR-activable tumor-targeting delivery systems with controllable cancer-cell binding to potentially enable highly specific and efficient cancer therapy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Allen, T. M.; Cullis, P. R. Drug delivery systems: Entering the mainstream. Science 2004, 303, 1818–1822.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Cheng, L.; Yang, K.; Li, Y. G.; Chen, J. H.; Wang, C.; Shao, M. W.; Lee, S.-T.; Liu, Z. Facile preparation of multifunctional upconversion nanoprobes for multimodal imaging and dual-targeted photothermal therapy. Angew. Chem. 2011, 123, 7523–7528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Sun, X. Q.; Wang, C.; Gao, M.; Hu, A. Y.; Liu, Z. Remotely controlled red blood cell carriers for cancer targeting and near-infrared light-triggered drug release in combined photothermal–chemotherapy. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2015, 25, 2386–2394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Gearhart, P. J.; Johnson, N. D.; Douglas, R.; Hood, L. IgG antibodies to phosphorylcholine exhibit more diversity than their IgM counterparts. Nature 1981, 291, 29–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Chu, T. C.; Marks III, J. W.; Lavery, L. A.; Faulkner, S.; Rosenblum, M. G.; Ellington, A. D.; Levy, M. Aptamer: Toxin conjugates that specifically target prostate tumor cells. Cancer Res. 2006, 66, 5989–5992.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Farokhzad, O. C.; Jon, S.; Khademhosseini, A.; Tran, T.-N. T.; LaVan, D. A.; Langer, R. Nanoparticle-aptamer bioconjugates: A new approach for targeting prostate cancer cells. Cancer Res. 2004, 64, 7668–7672.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kim, D.; Jeong, Y. Y.; Jon, S. A drug-loaded aptamer–gold nanoparticle bioconjugate for combined CTimaging and therapy of prostate cancer. ACS Nano 2010, 4, 3689–3696.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Oliveira, H.; Pérez-André s, E.; Thevenot, J.; Sandre, O.; Berra, E.; Lecommandoux, S. Magnetic field triggered drug release from polymersomes for cancer therapeutics. J. Control. Release 2013, 169, 165–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Hernot, S.; Klibanov, A. L. Microbubbles in ultrasoundtriggered drug and gene delivery. Adv.Drug Deliv. Rev. 2008, 60, 1153–1166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Geers, B.; Lentacker, I.; Sanders, N. N.; Demeester, J.; Meairs, S.; De Smedt, S. C. Self-assembled liposome-loaded microbubbles: The missing link for safe and efficient ultrasound triggered drug-delivery. J. Control. Release 2011, 152, 249–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Kim, C.; Lee, Y.; Kim, J. S.; Jeong, J. H.; Park, T. G. Thermally triggered cellular uptake of quantum dots immobilized with poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) and cell penetrating peptide. Langmuir 2010, 26, 14965–14969.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Hansen, M. B.; van Gaal, E.; Minten, I.; Storm, G.; van Hest, J. C. M.; Löwik, D. W. P. M. Constrained and UV-activatable cell-penetrating peptides for intracellular delivery of liposomes. J. Control. Release 2012, 164, 87–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Huang, Y. Z.; Jiang, Y. F.; Wang, H. Y.; Wang, J. X.; Shin, M. C.; Byun, Y.; He, H. N.; Liang, Y. Q.; Yang, V. C. Curb challenges of the “Trojan Horse” approach: Smart strategies in achieving effective yet safe cell-penetrating peptide-based drug delivery. Adv.Drug Deliv. Rev. 2013, 65, 1299–1315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Parker, N.; Turk, M. J.; Westrick, E.; Lewis, J. D.; Low, P. S.; Leamon, C. P. Folate receptor expression in carcinomas and normal tissues determined by a quantitative radioligand binding assay. Anal. Biochem. 2005, 338, 284–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Larson, D. R.; Zipfel, W. R.; Williams, R. M.; Clark, S. W.; Bruchez, M. P.; Wise, F. W.; Webb, W. W. Water-soluble quantum dots for multiphoton fluorescence imaging in vivo. Science 2003, 300, 1434–1436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Yang, Y.; Xiang, K.; Yang, Y.-X.; Wang, Y.-W.; Zhang, X.; Cui, Y. D.; Wang, H. F.; Zhu, Q.-Q.; Fan, L. Q.; Liu, Y. F. et al. An individually coated near-infrared fluorescent protein as a safe and robust nanoprobe for in vivo imaging. Nanoscale 2013, 5, 10345–10352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Welsher, K.; Liu, Z.; Sherlock, S. P.; Robinson, J. T.; Chen, Z.; Daranciang, D.; Dai, H. J. A route to brightly fluorescent carbon nanotubes for near-infrared imaging in mice. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2009, 4, 773–780.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Cheng, L.; Wang, C.; Feng, L. Z.; Yang, K.; Liu, Z. Functional nanomaterials for phototherapies of cancer. Chem. Rev. 2014, 114, 10869–10939.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Liu, J. J.; Wang, C.; Wang, X. J.; Wang, X.; Cheng, L.; Li, Y. G.; Liu, Z. Mesoporous silica coated single-walled carbon nanotubes as a multifunctional light-responsive platform for cancer combination therapy. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2015, 25, 384–392.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Yavuz, M. S.; Cheng, Y. Y.; Chen, J. Y.; Cobley, C. M.; Zhang, Q.; Rycenga, M.; Xie, J. W.; Kim, C.; Song, K. H.; Schwartz, A. G. et al. Gold nanocages covered by smart polymers for controlled release with near-infrared light. Nat. Mater. 2009, 8, 935–939.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Cheng, L.; Liu, J. J.; Gu, X.; Gong, H.; Shi, X. Z.; Liu, T.; Wang, C.; Wang, X. Y.; Liu, G.; Xing, H. Y. et al. PEGylated WS2 nanosheets as a multifunctional theranostic agent for in vivo dual-modal CT/photoacoustic imaging guided photothermal therapy. Adv. Mater. 2014, 26, 1886–1893.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Yan, H.; Teh, C.; Sreejith, S.; Zhu, L. L.; Kwok, A.; Fang, W. Q.; Ma, X.; Nguyen, K. T.; Korzh, V.; Zhao, Y. L. Functional mesoporous silica nanoparticles for photothermalcontrolled drug delivery in vivo. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 8373–8377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Liu, T.; Wang, C.; Gu, X.; Gong, H.; Cheng, L.; Shi, X. Z.; Feng, L. Z.; Sun, B. Q.; Liu, Z. Drug delivery with PEGylated MoS2 nano-sheets for combined photothermal and chemotherapy of cancer. Adv. Mater. 2014, 26, 3433–3440.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Song, X. J.; Chen, Q.; Liu, Z. Recent advances in the development of organic photothermal nano-agents. Nano Res. 2015, 8, 340–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Barhoumi, A.; Wang, W. P.; Zurakowski, D.; Langer, R. S.; Kohane, D. S. Photothermally targeted thermosensitive polymer-masked nanoparticles. Nano Lett. 2014, 14, 3697–3701.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Qiu, L. P.; Chen, T.; Öçsoy, I.; Yasun, E.; Wu, C. C.; Zhu, G. Z.; You, M. X.; Han, D.; Jiang, J. H.; Yu, R. Q. et al. A cell-targeted, size-photocontrollable, nuclear-uptake nanodrug delivery system for drug-resistant cancer therapy. Nano Lett. 2015, 15, 457–463.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Liang, H.; Zhang, X.-B.; Lv, Y. F.; Gong, L.; Wang, R. W.; Zhu, X. Y.; Yang, R. H.; Tan, W. H. Functional DNAcontaining nanomaterials: Cellular applications in biosensing, imaging, and targeted therapy. Acc.Chem. Res. 2014, 47, 1891–1901.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Zhu, Z.; Wu, C. C.; Liu, H. P.; Zou, Y.; Zhang, X. L.; Kang, H. Z.; Yang, C. J.; Tan, W. H. An aptamer cross-linked hydrogel as a colorimetric platform for visual detection. Angew. Chem. 2010, 122, 1070–1074.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Wang, J.; Zhu, G. Z.; You, M. X.; Song, E. Q.; Shukoor, M. I.; Zhang, K. J.; Altman, M. B.; Chen, Y.; Zhu, Z.; Huang, C. Z. et al. Assembly of aptamer switch probes and photosensitizer on gold nanorods for targeted photothermal and photodynamic cancer therapy. ACS Nano 2012, 6, 5070–5077.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Vankayala, R.; Huang, Y. K.; Kalluru, P.; Chiang, C. S.; Hwang, K. C. First demonstration of gold nanorods-mediated photodynamic therapeutic destruction of tumors via near infra-red light activation. Small 2014, 10, 1612–1622.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Wang, C.; Cheng, L.; Liu, Z. Drug delivery with upconversion nanoparticles for multi-functional targeted cancer cell imaging and therapy. Biomaterials 2011, 32, 1110–1120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Kam, N. W. S.; O'Connell, M.; Wisdom, J. A.; Dai, H. J. Carbon nanotubes as multifunctional biological transporters and near-infrared agents for selective cancer cell destruction. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2005, 102, 11600–11605.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Jang, B.; Kim, Y. S.; Choi, Y. Effects of gold nanorod concentration on the depth-related temperature increase during hyperthermic ablation. Small 2011, 7, 265–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Terentyuk, G.; Panfilova, E.; Khanadeev, V.; Chumakov, D.; Genina, E.; Bashkatov, A.; Tuchin, V.; Bucharskaya, A.; Maslyakova, G.; Khlebtsov, N. et al. Gold nanorods with a hematoporphyrin-loaded silica shell for dual-modality photodynamic and photothermal treatment of tumors in vivo. Nano Res. 2014, 7, 325–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Bhaumik, J.; Mittal, A. K.; Banerjee, A.; Chisti, Y.; Banerjee, U. C. Applications of phototheranostic nanoagents in photodynamic therapy. Nano Res. 2015, 8, 1373–1394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Ding, H.; Yong, K.-T.; Roy, I.; Pudavar, H. E.; Law, W. C.; Bergey, E. J.; Prasad, P. N. Gold nanorods coated with multilayer polyelectrolyte as contrast agents for multimodal imaging. J. Phys. Chem. C 2007, 111, 12552–12557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Wang, F.; Liu, J. W. Nanodiamond decorated liposomes as highly biocompatible delivery vehicles and a comparison with carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide. Nanoscale 2013, 5, 12375–12382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Samorì, C.; Ali-Boucetta, H.; Sainz, R.; Guo, C.; Toma, F. M.; Fabbro, C.; Da Ros, T.; Prato, M.; Kostarelos, K.; Bianco, A. Enhanced anticancer activity of multi-walled carbon nanotube–methotrexate conjugates using cleavable linkers. Chem. Commun. 2010, 46, 1494–1496.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Tian, B.; Wang, C.; Zhang, S.; Feng, L. Z.; Liu, Z. Photothermally enhanced photodynamic therapy delivered by nano-graphene oxide. ACS Nano 2011, 5, 7000–7009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Feng, L. Z.; Yang, X. Z.; Shi, X. Z.; Tan, X. F.; Peng, R.; Wang, J.; Liu, Z. Polyethylene glycol and polyethylenimine dual-functionalized nano-graphene oxide for photothermally enhanced gene delivery. Small 2013, 9, 1989–1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China

    Yu Yang & Meiwan Chen

  2. Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials Laboratory (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Jingjing Liu, Xiaoqi Sun, Liangzhu Feng, Wenwen Zhu & Zhuang Liu

Authors
  1. Yu Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jingjing Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xiaoqi Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Liangzhu Feng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Wenwen Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Zhuang Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Meiwan Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zhuang Liu or Meiwan Chen.

Electronic supplementary material

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yang, Y., Liu, J., Sun, X. et al. Near-infrared light-activated cancer cell targeting and drug delivery with aptamer-modified nanostructures. Nano Res. 9, 139–148 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0898-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-015-0898-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation