Self-Assembled Responsive Bilayered Vesicles with Adjustable Oxidative Stress for Enhanced Cancer Imaging and Therapy

by Song, Jibin; Lin, Lisen; Yang, Zhen; Zhu, Rong; Zhou, Zijian; Li, Zhan-Wei; Wang, Feng; Chen, Jingyi; Yang, Huanghao; Chen, Xiaoyuan

In the present study, we report the development of magnetic-plasmonic bilayer vesicles assembled from iron oxide-gold Janus nanoparticles (Fe3O4-Au JNPs) for reactive oxygen species (ROS) enhanced chemotherapy. The amphiphilic Fe3O4-Au JNPs were grafted with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) on the Au surface and ROS-generating poly(lipid hydroperoxide) (PLHP) on the Fe3O4 surface, respectively, which were then assembled into vesicles containing two closely attached Fe3O4-Au NPs layers in opposite directions. The self-assembly mechanism of the bilayered vesicles was elucidated by performing a series of numerical simulations. The enhanced optical properties of the bilayered vesicles were verified by the calculated results and experimental data. The vesicles exhibited enhanced T-2 relaxivity and photoacoustic properties over single JNPs due to the interparticle magnetic dipole interaction and plasmonic coupling. In particular, the vesicles are pH responsive and disassemble into single JNPs in the acidic tumor environment, activating an intracellular biochemical reaction between the grafted PLHP and released ferrous ions (Fe2+) from Fe3O4 NPs, resulting in highly efficient local ROS generation and increased intracellular oxidative stress. In combination with the release of doxorubicin (DOX), the vesicles combine ROS-mediated cytotoxicity and DOX-induced chemotherapy, leading to greatly improved therapeutic efficacy than monotherapies. High tumor accumulation efficiency and fast vesicle clearance from the body were also confirmed by positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of radioisotope Cu-64-labeled vesicles.

Journal
Journal of the American Chemical Society
Volume
141
Issue
20
Year
2019
Start Page
8158-8170
URL
https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jacs.8b13902
ISBN/ISSN
1520-5126; 0002-7863
DOI
10.1021/jacs.8b13902