High performance in vivo near-IR (>1 μm) imaging and photothermal cancer therapy with carbon nanotubes

Abstract

Short single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) functionalized by PEGylated phospholipids are biologically non-toxic and long-circulating nanomaterials with intrinsic near infrared photoluminescence (NIR PL), characteristic Raman spectra, and strong optical absorbance in the near infrared (NIR). This work demonstrates the first dual application of intravenously injected SWNTs as photoluminescent agents for in vivo tumor imaging in the 1.0-1.4 μm emission region and as NIR absorbers and heaters at 808 nm for photothermal tumor elimination at the lowest injected dose (70 μg of SWNT/mouse, equivalent to 3.6 mg/kg) and laser irradiation power (0.6 W/cm 2 ) reported to date. Ex vivo resonance Raman imaging revealed the SWNT distribution within tumors at a high spatial resolution. Complete tumor elimination was achieved for large numbers of photothermally treated mice without any toxic side effects after more than six months post-treatment. Further, side-by-side experiments were carried out to compare the performance of SWNTs and gold nanorods (AuNRs) at an injected dose of 700 μg of AuNR/mouse (equivalent to 35 mg/kg) in NIR photothermal ablation of tumors in vivo. Highly effective tumor elimination with SWNTs was achieved at 10 times lower injected doses and lower irradiation powers than for AuNRs. These results suggest there are significant benefits of utilizing the intrinsic properties of biocompatible SWNTs for combined cancer imaging and therapy.

The Impact of Nanoparticle Protein Corona on Cytotoxicity, Immunotoxicity and Target Drug Delivery

“…Given their unique properties, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have generated interest in a number of areas of medicine, including cancer therapy and diagnostics [114,115]. The toxicological implications related to their use have been widely discussed and are mainly due to the nonbiodegradable nature of these NPs [116,117].…”

Nd3+ doped LaF3 nanoparticles as self-monitored photo-thermal agents

“…This is in agreement with the fact that the laser intensities used in this work were comparable to those used in in vivo photo-thermal treatments based on both Gold Nanorods and Carbon Nanotubes. 41,42 Furthermore, similar laser intensities were used in previous studies regarding 808 nm laser therapies of skeletal muscles in rats in absence of any tissue damage. 43 Real controlled photo-thermal therapies of deep tumors (not located at surface) would require real time thermal …”

Insights into 2D MXenes for Versatile Biomedical Applications: Current Advances and Challenges Ahead

“…Especially, the ultrathin Ti 3 C 2 nanosheets exhibit an especially high extinction coefficient (ε) of 25.2 L g −1 cm −1 , which is remarkably higher than that of GO nanosheets (3.6 L g −1 cm −1 ),85 and also notably larger than that of traditional Au nanorods (13.9 L g −1 cm −1 ),86 indicating a favorable NIR laser‐absorption property of Ti 3 C 2 nanosheets (Figure 4b). The photothermal conversion efficiency (η) was calculated to be 30.6%, higher than that of Au nanorods (21%),87 and Cu 9 S 5 nanocrystals (25.7%) 88.…”