Promising Colloidal Rhenium Disulfide Nanosheets: Preparation and Applications for In Vivo Breast Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Photothermal therapy (PTT) has become an important therapeutic strategy in the treatment of cancer. However, exploring novel photothermal nanomaterials with satisfactory biocompatibility, high photothermal conversion efficiency, and efficient theranostic outcomes, remains a major challenge for satisfying clinical application. In this study, poly-ethylene glycol modified rhenium disulfide (PEG-ReS2) nanosheets are constructed by a simple-liquid phase exfoliation method. The PEG-ReS2 nanosheets were demonstrated to have good solubility, good biocompatibility, low toxicity, and strong capability of accumulating near-infrared (NIR) photons. Under 808 nm laser irradiation, the PEG-ReS2 nanosheets were found to have an excellent photothermal conversion efficiency (PTCE) of 42%. Moreover, the PEG-ReS2 nanosheets were demonstrated to be ideal photothermal transduction agents (PTAs), which promoted rapid cancer cell death in vitro and efficiently ablated tumors in vivo. Interestingly, the potential utility of up-regulation or down-regulation of miRNAs was proposed to evaluate the therapeutic outcomes of PEG-ReS2 nanosheets. The expression levels of a set of miRNAs in tumor-bearing mice were restored to normal levels after PTT therapy with PEG-ReS2 nanosheets. Both down-regulation miRNAs (miR-125a-5p, miR-34a-5p, miR-132-3p, and miR-148b-3p) and up-regulation miRNAs (miR-133a-3p, miR-200c-5p, miR-9-3p, and miR-150-3p) were suggested to be important clinical biomarkers for evaluating therapeutic outcomes of breast cancer-related PTT. This work highlights the great significance of PEG-ReS2 nanosheets as therapeutic nanoagents for cancer therapy.

Recent Development of Rhenium-Based Materials in the Application of Diagnosis and Tumor Therapy

“…In addition, the results of the photothermal agent combined with RT showed that the photothermal agent could significantly improve the hypoxic environment of tumors, thus reducing the RT resistance of tumors and finally achieving significant therapeutic effects. Song et al [ 134 ] also synthesized PEG-ReS 2 nanosheets with different methods, which also have ideal photothermal conversion efficiency and could effectively ablate tumors. In addition, the micro-RNA (miRNA) expression analysis and evaluation methods also showed that PEG-ReS 2 nanotablets had good therapeutic effects ( Figure 8 d).…”

“…[ 135 ], Copyright 2011, Royal Society of Chemistry); ( d ) schematic illustration of PEG−ReS 2 nanosheets employed for in vivo breast cancer therapy study (reproduced with permission from Ref. [ 134 ], Copyright 2022, MDPI). NCs, nanoclusters; PVP, polyvinyl pyrrolidone; CT, computed tomography; PA, photoacoustic imaging; PEG, polyethylene glycol.…”