article · ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Researchers developed a one-pot noninjection method to synthesise copper iron sulfide nanocrystals, offering straightforward handling, large-scale production potential, and high reproducibility. Coating these nanocrystals with hyaluronic acid produced water-dispersible, biocompatible nanoparticles that target cancer cells displaying CD44 receptors. The resulting material demonstrated broad light absorbance across visible and near-infrared regions, achieving a photothermal conversion efficiency of 74.2 percent for heat-based destruction of cancer cells under near-infrared irradiation. In vitro testing on HeLa and B16F1 cells, in vivo testing on zebrafish embryos, and blood compatibility assays showed low toxicity at therapeutic doses. In addition, loading the nanoparticles with a cisplatin(IV) prodrug created a dual-action system. Drug release is triggered by pH and glutathione, which may limit harm to healthy tissue. Laboratory experiments confirmed this combined approach produces a stronger therapeutic effect than chemotherapy or photothermal therapy alone.
Conventional cancer therapies often cause significant damage to healthy tissue and provide limited efficacy when used independently. Combining targeted drug delivery with light-induced heat treatment in a single nanoparticle system can improve anti-tumour performance while reducing adverse side effects. The reported synthesis route also offers a practical, highly reproducible approach for producing functional nanomaterials at scale.
This work could support the development of dual-action oncology therapeutics combining photothermal ablation and targeted chemotherapy. Potential users include nanomedicine developers and pharmaceutical biotechnology companies. The research is at an early stage, having only been validated in laboratory cell lines and zebrafish models, meaning significant preclinical safety and mammalian testing are required before clinical application.
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In this study, for the first time, CuFeS 2 nanocrystals were successfully prepared through a facile noninjection-based synthetic strategy, by reacting Cu and Fe precursors with dodecanethiol in a 1-octadecene solvent. This one-pot noninjection strategy features easy handling, large-scale production, and high synthetic reproducibility. Following hyaluronic acid (HA) encapsulation, CuFeS 2 nanocrystals coated with HA (CuFeS 2 @HA) not only readily dispersed in water and showed improved biocompatibility but also possessed a tumor-specific targeting ability of cancer cells bearing the cluster determinant 44 (CD44) receptors. The encapsulated CuFeS 2 @HA showed broad optical absorbance from the visible to the near-infrared (NIR) region and high photothermal conversion efficiencies of about 74.2%. They can, therefore, be utilized for the photothermal ablation of cancer cells with NIR light irradiation. In addition, toxicity studies in vitro (B16F1 and HeLa) and in vivo (zebrafish embryos), as well as in vitro blood compatibility studies, indicated that CuFeS 2 @HA show low cytotoxicity at the doses required for photothermal therapy. More importantly, CuFeS 2 @HA can be used as delivery vehicles for chemotherapy cisplatin(IV) prodrug forming CuFeS 2 @HA-Pt(IV). Their release profile revealed pH- and glutathione-mediated drug release from CuFeS 2 @HA-Pt(IV), which may minimize the side effects of the drug to normal tissues during therapy. Subsequent in vitro experiments confirmed that the use of CuFeS 2 @HA-Pt(IV) provides an enhanced and synergistic therapeutic effect compared to that from the use of either chemotherapy or photothermal therapy alone.
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DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b19640
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