Hyaluronic Acid-Functionalized Gadolinium Oxide Nanoparticles for Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Radiotherapy of Tumors
Chaoyang Wu, Rong Cai, Tian Zhao, Lin Wu, Lirong Zhang, Jie Jin, Lixia Xu, Pengfei Li, Tao Li, Miaomiao Zhang, F. Du
Abstract
Abstract Inaccuracy localization and intrinsic radioresistance of solid tumors seriously hindered the clinical implementation of radiotherapy. In this study, we fabricated hyaluronic acid-functionalized gadolinium oxide nanoparticles (HA-Gd 2 O 3 NPs) via one-pot hydrothermal process for effective magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and radiosensitization of tumors. By virtue of HA functionalization, the as-prepared HA-Gd 2 O 3 NPs with a diameter of 105 nm showed favorable dispersibility in water, low cytotoxicity, and excellent biocompatibility and readily entered into the cytoplasm of cancer cells by HA receptor-mediated endocytosis. Importantly, HA-Gd 2 O 3 NPs exhibited high longitudinal relaxivity ( r 1 ) 6.0 mM −1 S −1 as MRI contrast agents and radiosensitization enhancement in a dose-dependent manner. These finds demonstrated that as-synthesized HA-Gd 2 O 3 NPs as bifunctional theranostic agents have great potential in tumors diagnosis and radiotherapy.