Indocyanine Green Nanoparticles for Theranostic Applications

Theranostics is a concept that integrated imaging and therapy. As an emerging field, it embraces multiple techniques to arrive at an individualized treatment purpose. Indocyanine green(ICG) is a near infrared dye that has been approved by Food and Drug Administration(FDA) in USA for the use in indicator-dilution studies in humans. ICG nanoparticles(NPs) have attracted much attention for its potential applications in cancer theranostics. This review focuses on the preparation, application of ICG NPs for in vivo imaging(fluorescent imaging and photoacoustic imaging) and therapeutics(photothermal therapy, photodynamic therapy and photoacoustic therapy), and future directions based on recent developments in these areas. It is hoped that this review might provide new impetus to understand ICG NPs for cancer theranostics.

Cancer-macrophage hybrid membrane-camouflaged photochlor for enhanced sonodynamic therapy against triple-negative breast cancer

Sonodynamic therapy(SDT)has aroused considerable momentum in cancer therapy due to its abilities of deep penetration,low toxicity,and noninvasion,while insufficient tumor accumulation of sonosensitizers is a major obstacle for SDT effect.Here,we developed a 4T1 cancer cell-macrophage hybrid membrane(HM)-camouflaged sonosensitizer nanoplatform by encapsulating photochlor(HPPH)-loaded albumin nanoparticles(PHNPs).The experimental results proved that the HM-coated biomimetic NPs(PHNPs@HM)could express the characteristic membrane proteins of both cancer cells and macrophages,remarkedly enhancing the effective targeting and endocytosis to 4T1 cells through homologous adhesion recognition and immune escaping.Meanwhile,as a novel sonosensitizer,HPPH could generate amount of reactive oxygen species(ROS)under ultrasound(US)irradiation and exhibit obvious SDT efficiency to inhibit 4T1 tumor growth through ROS-induced cell apoptosis.This study provides a novel and multifunctional biomimetic sonosensitizer system to enhance SDT efficiency.

Click CAR-T cell engineering for robustly boosting cell immunotherapy in blood and subcutaneous xenograft tumor

The adoptive transfer of chimeric antigen receptor-T(CAR-T)cells has shown remarkable clinical responses in hematologic malignancies.However,unsatisfactory curative results and side effects for tumor treatment are still unsolved problems.Herein we develop a click CAR-T cell engineering strategy via cell glycometabolic labeling for robustly boosting their antitumor effects and safety in vivo.Briefly,paired chemical groups(N3/BCN)are separately incorporated into CAR-T cell and tumor via nondestructive intrinsic glycometabolism of exogenous Ac4GalNAz and Ac4ManNBCN,serving as an artificial ligand-receptor.Functional groups anchored on cell surface strengthen the interaction of CAR-T cell and tumor via bioorthogonal click chemistry,further enhancing specific recognition,migration and selective antitumor effects of CAR-T cells.In vivo,click CAR-T cell completely removes lymphoma cells and minimizes off-target toxicity via selective and efficient bioorthogonal targeting in blood cancer.Surprisingly,compared to unlabeled cells,artificial bioorthogonal targeting significantly promotes the accumulation,deep penetration and homing of CAR-T cells into tumor tissues,ultimately improving its curative effect for solid tumor.Click CAR-T cell engineering robustly boosts selective recognition and antitumor capabilities of CAR T cells in vitro and in vivo,thereby holding a great potential for effective clinical cell immunotherapy with avoiding adverse events in patients.

Aptamer-Anchored Rubrene-Loaded Organic Nanoprobes for Cancer Cell Targeting and Imaging

Fluorescence imaging has become an indispensable technique in cancer research because it can reveal informative molecular,cellular,anatomical,and func-tional insights.Development of advanced fluores-cent probes with superior sensitivity and biological selectivity for fluorescence imaging is thus impera-tive.To move forward in this direction,we developed an easy self-assembly method for fabricating apta-mer-anchored rubrene-loaded organic fluorescent nanoprobes.The aptamer-modified organic nanop-robes integrated the best features of the organic light-emitting materials and the aptamers,thus endowing them with excellent cell-targeting capabil-ity,high stability,and good biocompatibility.By using this general method,a variety of biocompatible and highly bright organic fluorescent nanoprobes based on novel organic light-emitting materials with specific recognition could be easily constructed for real-time biosensing and long-term biomedical imaging.