title: Microwave pumped high-efficient thermoacoustic tumor therapy with single wall carbon nanotubes.
abstract: The ultra-short pulse microwave could excite to the strong thermoacoustic (TA) shock wave and deeply penetrate in the biological tissues. Based on this, we developed a novel deep-seated tumor therapy modality with mitochondria-targeting single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) as microwave absorbing agents, which act efficiently to convert ultra-short microwave energy into TA shock wave and selectively destroy the targeted mitochondria, thereby inducing apoptosis in cancer cells. After the treatment of SWNTs (40 μg/mL) and ultra-short microwave (40 Hz, 1 min), 77.5% of cancer cells were killed and the vast majority were caused by apoptosis that initiates from mitochondrial damage. The orthotopic liver cancer mice were established as deep-seated tumor model to investigate the anti-tumor effect of mitochondria-targeting TA therapy. The results suggested that TA therapy could effectively inhibit the tumor growth without any observable side effects, while it was difficult to achieve with photothermal or photoacoustic therapy. These discoveries implied the potential application of TA therapy in deep-seated tumor models and should be further tested for development into a promising therapeutic modality for cancer treatment.
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Laser Life Science & Institute of Laser Life Science, College of Biophotonics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
authors.forename: Liewei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Laser Life Science & Institute of Laser Life Science, College of Biophotonics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
authors.forename: Wenzheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Laser Life Science & Institute of Laser Life Science, College of Biophotonics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China. Electronic address: yangsh@scnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Sihua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Laser Life Science & Institute of Laser Life Science, College of Biophotonics, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China. Electronic address: xingda@scnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Da
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xing
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D006979:Hyperthermia, Induced / Q000009:adverse effects; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008872:Microwaves; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D023041:Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
chemical_list: D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon
keywords: Deep-seated tumor; Mitochondria-targeting; Single wall carbon nanotubes; Thermoacoustic therapy; Ultra-short microwave