ICG-Loaded PEG-Modified Black Phosphorus Nanosheets for Fluorescence Imaging-Guided Breast Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Indocyanine green (ICG) has been used in various surgical navigation systems and plays an important role in intraoperative imaging diagnosis. However, the poor photostability and unsatisfactory tumor-targeting ability have limited its broad application prospects. In the decades, the construction of a nanodrug delivery system for tumor-targeting diagnosis and therapy has become a research hotspot. Black phosphorus nanosheets (BPNS), as a new kind of biodegradable nanomaterials, have the advantages of high loading capacity, good biocompatibility, tumor targeting, and photothermal effect over other two-dimensional (2D) reported nanomaterials. Herein, ICG-loaded poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-modified BPNS (ICG@BPNS-PEG) nanocomposites are constructed to improve the tumor-targeting capacity and guide photothermal therapy through real-time fluorescence imaging. In this study, ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites with a suitable size (240 ± 28 nm) have been successfully constructed. The photostability of ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites surpassed that of free ICG after four on–off cycles of near laser irradiation (NIR). Moreover, ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites have enhanced photothermal conversion ability. The cellular uptake result through flow cytometry showed that ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites could be swallowed easily owing to the suitable size and passive cellular uptake. In addition, the cytotoxicity evaluation of MCF-7, 4T1 breast cancer cells, and healthy RPE cells through the MTT assay demonstrated that ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites have lower cytotoxicity and good cellular compatibility without irradiation. However, the cytotoxicity and live/dead staining proved that ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites have satisfactory photothermal therapeutic effects when irradiated. In the 4T1-bearing mice model, the fluorescence imaging after intravenous injection of nanocomposites showed that ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites have superior passive tumor targeting accumulation through the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect compared with that of free ICG. Also, changes in tumor volume showed a remarkable tumor growth inhibition effect compared with other groups. Moreover, the results of hematoxylin–eosin (H&E) staining of major organs in 4T1-bearing mice also demonstrated that the nanocomposites have good biocompatibility. Therefore, the constructed ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites have substantial potential in breast cancer therapy.

Cr-Free Bismuth-Based Persistent Luminescence Nanoparticle Composite for Cancer Theranostics

“…The characteristic peaks were observed at 3415 and 3284 cm –1 for N–H stretching bonds and at 1620 cm –1 for the CC stretching bond for the PDA polymer modified on PLNP–OH . The characteristic peak at 1415 cm –1 was related to the N–H vibration bond and that at 1103 cm –1 for the C–O stretching bond, illustrating that ICG was loaded as PLNP–PDA–ICG …”

“…39 The characteristic peak at 1415 cm −1 was related to the N−H vibration bond and that at 1103 cm −1 for the C−O stretching bond, illustrating that ICG was loaded as PLNP− PDA−ICG. 40 The hydrodynamic size and zeta potential were also recorded. The average size of PLNP−OH was 91.3 nm and increased to 106 nm for PLNP−PDA.…”

Recent progress on near‐infrared fluorescence heptamethine cyanine dye‐based molecules and nanoparticles for tumor imaging and treatment

“…Ma. et al combined ICG with black phosphorus nanosheets, enabling the nanodrug delivery system to have fluorescence imaging capability and almost no change in the optical stability of ICG (Pan et al, 2021). To compensate for the deficiency of ACQ effect of heptamethine cyanine dyes, Meng et al introduced an aggregation‐induced emission unit into the IR‐780 structure to synthesize IR‐780 derivatives with enhanced aggregated‐induced emission (AIE) properties (Zhao et al, 2020).…”

Sequential Diagnosis and Treatment for Colon Cancer via Derived Iridium and Indocyanine Green Hybrid Nanomicelles

“…For example, ICG-loaded PEGylated liposome (PEG-Lip-ICG) was developed to localize rectal tumors . Some inorganic nanocomposites such as ICG-loaded PEGylated black phosphorus nanosheets (BPNS-PEG) were also prepared for tumor targeting and photothermal therapy . Although ICG and its derivatives have been applied to image the tumor tissue, it has been observed that ICG mainly accumulates in the liver and partly in the gastrointestinal tract, lymph nodes, spleen, or kidney .…”