NIR-II-absorbing conjugated polymer-based theranostic agent for NIR-II fluorescence imaging-guided photothermal therapy acting synergistically with tumor microenvironment-responsive nitric oxide therapy
Jie Li,
Lisi Xie,
Wei Sang,
Wenxi Li,
Guohao Wang,
Hao Tian,
Zhan Zhang,
Jianhua Liu,
Quli Fan,
Yunlu Dai
Affiliations
Jie Li
Cancer Centre and Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China
Lisi Xie
Cancer Centre and Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China
Wei Sang
Cancer Centre and Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China
Wenxi Li
Cancer Centre and Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China
Guohao Wang
Cancer Centre and Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China
Hao Tian
Cancer Centre and Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China
Zhan Zhang
Cancer Centre and Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China
Jianhua Liu
Department of Radiology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun 130041, China
Quli Fan
Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics and Information Displays & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing University of Posts & Telecommunications, Nanjing 210023, China
Yunlu Dai
Cancer Centre and Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China; MoE Frontiers Science Center for Precision Oncology, University of Macau, Macau SAR 999078, China; Corresponding author.
Despite tremendous advances in gas therapy, there are major concerns about the inevitable concentration of toxicity and the ability to perform real-time tracking of drug delivery. Second near-infrared (NIR-II) window absorbing nanoplatforms hold great promise for precision medicine because of their excellent tissue penetration of light and non-invasive nature. In this study, we engineered an NIR-II laser-activated theranostic agent (named CP-bF@PEG) that was composed of amphiphilic polymers (Pluronic F127, with polyethylene glycol, PEG, moieties) coated with an NIR-II-absorbing conjugated polymer (PTTBBT, CP) and nitric oxide (NO) donor (benzofuroxan, bF), which served as an NIR-II photothermal inducer and NO nanogenerator. Under deep tissue penetration of NIR-II laser irradiation, CP-bF@PEG was found to possess fluorescence imaging ability to accurately identify tumor and excellent photothermal effect. Moreover, CP-bF@PEG could generate NO via glutathione activation in the tumor microenvironment in a controllable manner. This NIR-II-absorbing polymer for high-contrast NIR-II fluorescence imaging-guided precision photothermal therapy achieved synergistic effects with NO therapy, as evidenced by pronounced tumor therapeutic efficacy and few side effects. This nanotheranostic agent is a highly promising candidate for high-contrast NIR-II imaging-guided precision photothermal therapy combined with gas therapy against cancer.
