Black TiO2 nanoprobe-mediated mild phototherapy reduces intracellular lipid levels in atherosclerotic foam cells via cholesterol regulation pathways instead of apoptosis

Surface modification of TiO2 nanoparticles with organic molecules and their biological applications

“…In 2022, Dai et al modified TiO 2 NPs with hyaluronan and porphine for the simultaneous PTT/PDT therapies. 154 They used these two surface modifiers (hyaluronan and porphine) to mildly reduce the lipid level of RAW 264.7 cells without triggering the harsh cell apoptosis, which is an important strategy for the treatment of chronic cardiovascular diseases. For both PTT alone and PTT + PDT therapies, their result demonstrated a considerable decrease of intracellular lipid load without triggering apoptotic cell death or necrosis, below the 45 1C.…”

Engineering molecular nanoprobes to target early atherosclerosis: Precise diagnostic tools and promising therapeutic carriers

“…Of special note, black TiO2-HA-p nanoprobe-elicited mild phototherapy leads to decreased intracellular lipid levels in foam cells, mechanistically through the regulation of the SREBP2/LDLR pathway as well as ABCA1-mediated cholesterol efflux. This study clearly addresses the therapeutic potential of black TiO2-HA-p nanoprobes in atherosclerosis [29].…”

“…They have demonstrated that the quantification of the PAI signals can reflect the expression of CD36, and the inflammation severity, with good accuracy. At last, TiO 2 -HA-p nanoprobes have been reported as a classical example of metal-based nanoprobes applied in experimental studies for atherosclerosis on the basis of PAI 29 . This formulated nanoprobe can specifically target macrophage-derived foam cells, with good photothermal and photodynamic properties as well as excellent biocompatibility.…”

“…Among various molecular probes, nanoprobes, as a novel type of imaging probes and ultrasmall biosensors, have been shown to contribute to the early diagnosis of multiple diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease [23], and most cancers [24][25][26]. In addition to neurological diseases and cancers, nanoprobes also facilitate the imaging of atheromatous changes through formulating with intracellular and extracellular biomolecules, additionally providing longer blood-pool residence and more specific molecular targeting [27][28][29]. Based on this, the application of nanoprobes in combination with other imaging techniques, as exemplified by ultrasound and MRI, can together achieve more precise imaging effects of the plaque morphology and even molecular/cellular signatures of the atheroma.…”

Minimally invasive nanomedicine: nanotechnology in photo-/ultrasound-/radiation-/magnetism-mediated therapy and imaging

“…2b). 82 In this nanoplatform, the resulting bTiO 2 -HA-p nanoprobes could effectively generate ROS under NIR light irradiation, which could further act synergistically with bTiO 2 -mediated mind PTT to inhibit the accumulation of intracellular lipids and formation of macrophage-derived foam cells for attenuating atherosclerosis symptoms. Besides the limited tissue penetration, photobleaching is another challenge faced by organic small-molecule PSs, where the polymerization of organic PSs is one of the effective ways to solve this problem.…”