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Chlorin e6-loaded goat milk-derived extracellular vesicles for Cerenkov luminescence-induced photodynamic therapy

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European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Editorial to this article was published on 11 November 2022

Abstract

Purpose

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising cancer treatment strategy with rapid progress in preclinical and clinical settings. However, the limitations in penetration of external light and precise delivery of photosensitizers hamper its clinical translation. As such, the internal light source such as Cerenkov luminescence (CL) from decaying radioisotopes offers new opportunities. Herein, we show that goat milk-derived extracellular vesicles (GEV) can act as a carrier to deliver photosensitizer Chlorin e6 (Ce6) and tumor-avid 18F-FDG can activate CL-induced PDT for precision cancer theranostics.

Methods

GEV was isolated via differential ultracentrifugation of commercial goat milk and photosensitizer Ce6 was loaded by co-incubation to obtain Ce6@GEV. Tumor uptake of Ce6@GEV was examined using confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. To demonstrate the ability of 18F-FDG to activate photodynamic effects against cancer cells, apoptosis rates were measured using flow cytometry, and the production of 1O2 was measured by reactive oxygen species (ROS) monitoring kit. Moreover, we used the IVIS device to detect Cherenkov radiation and Cerenkov radiation energy transfer (CRET). For animal experiments, a small-animal IVIS imaging system was used to visualize the accumulation of the GEV drug delivery system in tumors. PET/CT and CL images of the tumor site were performed at 0.5, 1, and 2 h. For in vivo antitumor therapy, changes of tumor volume, survival time, and body weight in six groups of tumor-bearing mice were monitored. Furthermore, the blood sample and organs of interest (heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, and tumor) were collected for hematological analysis, immunohistochemistry, and H&E staining.

Results

Confocal microscopy of 4T1 cells incubated with Ce6@GEV for 4 h revealed strong red fluorescence signals in the cytoplasm, which demonstrated that Ce6 loaded in GEV could be efficiently delivered into tumor cells. When Ce6@GEV and 18F-FDG co-existed incubated with 4T1 cells, the cell viability plummeted from more than 88.02 ± 1.30% to 23.79 ± 1.59%, indicating excellent CL-induced PDT effects. In vivo fluorescence images showed a peak tumor/liver ratio of 1.36 ± 0.09 at 24 h after Ce6@GEV injection. For in vivo antitumor therapy, Ce6@GEV + 18F-FDG group had the best tumor inhibition rate (58.02%) compared with the other groups, with the longest survival rate (35 days, 40%). During the whole treatment process, neither blood biochemical analysis nor histological observation revealed vital organ damage, suggesting the biosafety of this treatment strategy.

Conclusions

The simultaneous accumulation of 18F-FDG and Ce6 in tumor tissues is expected to overcome the deficiency of traditional PDT. This strategy has the potential to extend PDT to a variety of tumors, including metastases, using targeted radiotracers to provide internal excitation of light-responsive therapeutics. We expect that our method will play a critical role in precision treatment of deep solid tumors.

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Abbreviations

PDT :

photodynamic therapy

CL :

Cerenkov luminescence

UV :

ultraviolet

EVs :

extracellular vesicles

GEV :

goat milk-derived extracellular vesicles

PS :

photosensitizers

ROS :

reactive oxygen species

1 O 2 :

singlet oxygen

CRET :

Cerenkov radiation energy transfer

18 F-FDG :

18F-fluo-rodeoxyglucose

Ce6 :

Chlorin e6

FBS :

fetal bovine serum

PBS :

phosphate buffer saline

TEM :

transmission electron microscope

DLS :

dynamic light scattering

WB :

Western blot

IVIS :

In Vivo Imaging System

i.v. :

intravenous injection

p.i. :

post-injection

ALT :

alanine aminotransferase

AST :

aspartate aminotransferase

ALP :

alkaline phosphatase

BUN :

blood urea nitrogen

CRE :

creatinine

DDS :

drug delivery systems

EPR effect :

enhanced permeability and retention effect

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Acknowledgements

We thank colleagues of the Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging for discussions and comments on this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82102121, 82071966, and 81873904), and thanks to the Open Foundation of Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging (No. 2021fzyx009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No. 1277 Jiefang Ave, Wuhan, 430022, China

    Rong Guo, Dawei Jiang, Yongkang Gai, Ruijie Qian, Ziyang Zhu, Yu Gao, Boping Jing, Biao Yang, Xiaoli Lan & Rui An

  2. Hubei Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Wuhan, 430022, China

    Rong Guo, Dawei Jiang, Yongkang Gai, Ruijie Qian, Ziyang Zhu, Yu Gao, Boping Jing, Biao Yang, Xiaoli Lan & Rui An

  3. Key Laboratory of Biological Targeted Therapy, the Ministry of Education, Wuhan, 430022, China

    Rong Guo, Dawei Jiang, Yongkang Gai, Ruijie Qian, Ziyang Zhu, Yu Gao, Boping Jing, Biao Yang, Xiaoli Lan & Rui An

  4. Department of Ultrasound, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430022, China

    Boping Jing

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  1. Rong Guo
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Contributions

Conceptualization, R. Guo, D. Jiang, and Y. Gai; methodology, R. Guo, R. Qian, Z. Zhu, and Y. Gao; formal analysis, B. Jing and B. Yang; investigation, X. Lan and R. An; writing–original draft, R. Guo and R. An; writing–review and editing, R. An, D. Jiang, and X. Lan; project administration, R. An, D. Jiang, and X. Lan; funding acquisition, Y. Gai, D. Jiang, R. An, and X. Lan.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xiaoli Lan or Rui An.

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Ethics approval

All animal experiment protocols were reviewed and approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. BALB/c mice (female, 4–5 weeks old, Beijing Vital River Laboratory Animal Technology Co., Ltd, China) fed in a pathogen-free environment.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Guo, R., Jiang, D., Gai, Y. et al. Chlorin e6-loaded goat milk-derived extracellular vesicles for Cerenkov luminescence-induced photodynamic therapy. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 50, 508–524 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-022-05978-4

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