Synergistic Effect of Thermo-Radiotherapy Using Au@FeS Core-Shell Nanoparticles as Multifunctional Therapeutic Nanoagents

Abstract

Imaging guided combined therapy has attracted great attention in recent years. This study develops core–shell Au@FeS nanoparticles with polyethylene glycol (PEG) coating as multifunctional nanotheranostic agent for tumor imaging and combined photothermal therapy (PTT) and radiotherapy (RT). In this Au@FeS nanostructure, the gold core can act as a radiosensitizer for enhanced RT, while FeS shell offers contrast for T2‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging and endows the nanoparticles with strong high near‐infrared (NIR) for photoacoustic imaging and PTT. As demonstrated by both in vitro and in vivo experiments, Au@FeS‐PEG can act as excellent therapeutic agent for cancer synergistic treatment. More importantly, mild PTT boosts the blood flow into tumor and increases oxygenation to overcome the tumor hypoxia microenvironment, further enhancing the efficacy of RT. Moreover, Au@FeS‐PEG induces on obvious toxicity at a high dose (20 mg kg−1) to the treated mice as evidenced by blood biochemistry. Therefore, this study brings an excellent strategy for cancer enhanced RT through NIR‐triggered mild PTT to overcome hypoxia‐associated radioresistance.

Metal-based NanoEnhancers for Future Radiotherapy: Radiosensitizing and Synergistic Effects on Tumor Cells

“…Multimetallic nanocomposites are well-designed metal-based hybrid materials with diverse structures and shapes consisting of at least two metals. Besides their radiosensitizing and synergistic effects as well as CT and MR imaging capabilities, multimetallic nanocomposites have exhibited a variety of additional functions in drug delivery 209 , PTT 210 , 212 , PDT 208 , PA (photoacoustic) imaging 211 , 213 , and monitoring and evaluation during treatment 199 , 200 . In particular, the multimetallic nanocomposites termed upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) containing rare earth elements 214 have attracted great interest in radiation oncology 215 .…”

Emerging Strategies of Nanomaterial‐Mediated Tumor Radiosensitization

“…Therefore, when combing PTT with RT, the heat generated from PTT can elevate the oxygen level in cancer cells to make the cells more sensitive to radiation, and thus the RT therapeutic effect is availably strengthened. Up to date, a large number of literatures about PTT and RT synergetic therapy can be searched . And we roughly summarized the evolution trends of this synergetic strategy as follows.…”

Application of rare earth-doped nanoparticles in biological imaging and tumor treatment

“…PTT has attracted extensive attention in recent years due to its non-invasive, simple process, and less damage to normal tissues. However, the existing photothermal materials often lack tumor targeting and imaging guidance properties such as MoS 2 , 164 CuS x , 165 Bi 2 S 3 , 166 Au NPs, 167 and so on. Therefore, it is of great significance to develop new photothermal materials with great tumor-targeting property for PTT.…”