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Graphene quantum dots-decorated hollow copper sulfide nanoparticles for controlled intracellular drug release and enhanced photothermal-chemotherapy

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Abstract

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs)-decorated hollow copper sulfide nanoparticles (CuS NPs) were developed as a multifunctional platform for controlled intracellular drug release and enhanced photothermal-chemotherapy. The CuS NPs were firstly synthesized to encapsulate anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) followed by the GQDs decoration on the surface of CuS NPs. The prepared NPs exhibited good crystal structure, uniform nanosize, excellent colloidal stability, high drug encapsulation and enhanced optical absorbance. Moreover, the drug release was successfully triggered from the DOX-CuS@GQDs NPs under high temperature and (near-infrared) NIR laser irradiation. Encouraged by this result, we moved to investigate the intracellular drug release behavior under NIR laser irradiation on MDA-MB-231 cells. The confocal images and flow cytometry analysis indicated a significant NIR-triggered DOX release within MDA-MB-231 cells after cellular uptake. Furthermore, the CuS NPs could readily convert light energy to heat to photothermally ablate the cancer cells under NIR laser irradiation, and the photothermal ablation effect was further enhanced by the capping of GQDs on CuS NPs. The combined photothermal therapy and chemotherapy of the prepared DOX-CuS@GQDs NPs also enabled a synergistic therapeutic effect on cancer cells. Therefore, the prepared DOX-CuS@GQDs NPs provided a novel promising platform for cancer therapy with controlled intracellular drug release and combined photothermal-chemotherapy.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Industrial Technology Innovation Program [10060059, External Actuatable Nanorobot System for Precise Targeting and Controlled Releasing of Drugs] funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE, Korea), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81901798, 81671744, 81771904), Natural Science Fund for Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province (19KJB310025), Startup Fund for Youth Talent in Xuzhou Medical University (D2019028), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (2016M591923, 2017T100405), Jiangsu Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (1601189C), the project of Invigorating Health Care through Science, Technology and Education, Jiangsu Provincial Medical Youth Talent (QNRC2016782), sponsored by Qing Lan Project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Medical Imaging, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221006, China

    Shaohui Zheng, Cuiping Han, Jingjing Li, Hang Xu & Kai Xu

  2. Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221004, China

    Cuiping Han, Jingjing Li & Kai Xu

  3. School of Mechanical Engineering, Chonnam National University, 77 Yongbong-ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju, 61186, Korea

    Zhen Jin, Jong-Oh Park & Eunpyo Choi

  4. Medical Microrobot Center (MRC) and Robot Research Initiative (RRI), Chonnam National University, 43-26, Cheomdangwagi-ro 208-beon-gil, Buk-gu, Gwangju, 61011, Korea

    Shaohui Zheng, Zhen Jin, Jong-Oh Park & Eunpyo Choi

  5. Department of Robotics Engineering, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, 333 Techno Jungang-daero, Hyeonpung-myeon, Dalseong-gun, Daegu, 42988, Korea

    Sukho Park

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  1. Shaohui Zheng
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  2. Zhen Jin
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Correspondence to Jong-Oh Park, Eunpyo Choi or Kai Xu.

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Zheng, S., Jin, Z., Han, C. et al. Graphene quantum dots-decorated hollow copper sulfide nanoparticles for controlled intracellular drug release and enhanced photothermal-chemotherapy. J Mater Sci 55, 1184–1197 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-019-04062-x

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