title: Au@MnS@ZnS Core/Shell/Shell Nanoparticles for Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Enhanced Cancer Radiation Therapy.
abstract: Although conventional radiotherapy (RT) has been widely used in the clinic to treat cancer, it often has limited therapeutic outcomes and severe toxic effects. There is still a need to develop theranostic agents with both imaging and RT-enhancing functions to improve the accuracy and efficiency of RT. Herein we synthesize Au@MnS@ZnS core/shell/shell nanoparticles with polyethylene glycol (PEG) functionalization, yielding Au@MnS@ZnS-PEG nanoparticles with great stability in different physiological solutions and no significant cytotoxicity. It is found that Au@MnS@ZnS-PEG nanoparticles can enhance the cancer cell killing efficiency induced by RT, as evidenced by multiple in vitro assays. Owing to the existence of paramagnetic Mn(2+) in the nanoparticle shell, our Au@MnS@ZnS-PEG can be used as a contrast agent for T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, which reveals the efficient accumulation and retention of nanoparticles in the tumors of mice after intravenous injection. Importantly, by exposing tumor-bearing mice that were injected with Au@MnS@ZnS-PEG to X-ray irradiation, the tumor growth can be significantly inhibited. This result shows clearly improved therapeutic efficacy compared to RT alone. Furthermore, no obvious side effect of Au@MnS@ZnS-PEG is observed in the injected mice. Therefore, our work presents a new type of radiosensitizing agent, which is promising for the imaging-guided enhanced RT treatment of cancer.
authors.affiliation: School of Radiation Medicine and Protection & School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Medical College of Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Meifang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Radiation Medicine and Protection & School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Medical College of Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: School of Radiation Medicine and Protection & School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Medical College of Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: School of Radiation Medicine and Protection & School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Medical College of Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials Laboratory (FUNSOM), Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Guosheng
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: School of Radiation Medicine and Protection & School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Medical College of Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Zhifang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials Laboratory (FUNSOM), Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Zhuang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Radiation Medicine and Protection & School for Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Medical College of Soochow University , Suzhou, Jiangsu 215123, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D017895:Manganese Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011208:Powders; D013440:Sulfides / Q000737:chemistry*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction; D017967:Zinc Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D017895:Manganese Compounds; D011208:Powders; D013440:Sulfides; D017967:Zinc Compounds; D006046:Gold; C041368:manganese sulfide; C031238:zinc sulfide
keywords: MR imaging; cancer treatment; core−shell−shell structure; enhanced radiotherapy; multifunctional nanoplatforms