A multifunctional AIE gold cluster-based theranostic system: tumor-targeted imaging and Fenton reaction-assisted enhanced radiotherapy
Yue Hua, Yuan Wang, Xue Kang, Fan Xu, Zhen Han, Chong Zhang, Zhao‐Yang Wang, Junqi Liu, Xueli Zhao, Xiaoyuan Chen, Shuang‐Quan Zang
Abstract
Abstract Background As cancer is one of the main leading causes of mortality, a series of monotherapies such as chemotherapy, gene therapy and radiotherapy have been developed to overcome this thorny problem. However, a single treatment approach could not achieve satisfactory effect in many experimental explorations. Results In this study, we report the fabrication of cyclic RGD peptide (cRGD) modified Au 4 -iron oxide nanoparticle (Au 4 -IO NP-cRGD) based on aggregation-induced emission (AIE) as a multifunctional theranostic system. Besides Au 4 cluster-based fluorescence imaging and enhanced radiotherapy, iron oxide (IO) nanocluster could realize magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and Fenton reaction-based chemotherapy. Abundant toxic reactive oxygen species generated from X-ray irradiation and in situ tumor-specific Fenton reaction under acidic microenvironment leads to the apoptotic and necrotic death of cancer cells. In vivo studies demonstrated good biocompatibility of Au 4 -IO NP-cRGD and a high tumor suppression rate of 81.1% in the synergistic therapy group. Conclusions The successful dual-modal imaging and combined tumor therapy demonstrated AIE as a promising strategy for constructing multifunctional cancer theranostic platform. Graphical Abstract