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Dual-Targeting of Doxorubicin and Chlorine e6 Co-Delivery Based on Small-Size Nanocomposite for the Synergetic Imaging and Therapy

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Abstract

It is an urgent need to develop multifunctional agents with integrated accurate diagnostics and treatment for conquering intrinsic limitations of traditional cancer therapies. Herein, a small-size nanocomposite consisting of chlorine e6-integrated gold nanoclusters, hyaluronic acid, doxorubicin and folic acid was synthesized by a simple and mild method. The chlorine e6-integrated gold nanoclusters (Au:Ce6 NCs) were synthesized in an one-step for biological fluorescence imaging and photodynamic therapy. The hyaluronic acid-modified Au:Ce6 (Au:Ce6@HA) can not only act as drug carrier to delivery doxorubicin but increase the cellular selectively target. The folic acid-conjugated Au:Ce6@HA:DOX (Au:Ce6@HA:DOX@FA) was fabricated as a double targeted and pH-responsive drug delivery system for controlling the release of doxorubicin for tumor chemotherapy. The prepared Au:Ce6@HA:DOX@FA nanocomposite possessed small size and high drug encapsulation and loading efficiency. The nanocomposite exhibited good biocompatibility, colloidal stability and potostability, and high cumulative release rate in the acidic microenvironments. The fluorescence microscopy of in vitro confirmed the enhanced cellular uptake of Au:Ce6@HA:DOX@FA for fluorescence imaging. Importantly, the nanocomposite exhibited remarkable mortality of cancer cells under laser irradiation by synergistic chemotherapy and PDT. Together, this study demonstrates the designed small-sized nanocomposite could be used as a promising theranostic agent with dual-responsive tumor targeting capability.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi Province (2017GXNSFBA198105), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21765022) and the high-level personnel Research Funds of Yulin Normal University (G2017011, 2016YJKY08).

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  1. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural Resources Chemistry & Biotechnology, College of Chemistry & Food Science, Yulin Normal University, 1303 Jiaoyudong Road, Yulin, 537000, PR China

    Na Li, Lina Chen, Zhihui Luo, Guochao Nie, Pei Zhang & Silian He

  2. Dongxihu District, Technology Center of China Tobacco Hubei Industrial Corporation, 1355 Haikou Industrial Park, Jinshan Avenue, Wuhan, 430040, PR China

    Jian Peng

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  1. Na Li
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Li, N., Chen, L., Luo, Z. et al. Dual-Targeting of Doxorubicin and Chlorine e6 Co-Delivery Based on Small-Size Nanocomposite for the Synergetic Imaging and Therapy. J Clust Sci 33, 1793–1807 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10876-021-02098-1

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