title: Carbon-Dot-Decorated Carbon Nitride Nanoparticles for Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy against Hypoxic Tumor via Water Splitting.
abstract: Hypoxia, a typical feature of solid tumors, remarkably restricts the efficiency of photodynamic therapy (PDT). Here, a carbon nitride (C3N4)-based multifunctional nanocomposite (PCCN) for light-driven water splitting was used to solve this problem. Carbon dots were first doped with C3N4 to enhance its red region absorption because red light could be used to trigger the in vivo water splitting process. Then, a polymer containing a protoporphyrin photosensitizer, a polyethylene glycol segment, and a targeting Arg-Gly-Asp motif was synthesized and introduced to carbon-dot-doped C3N4 nanoparticles. In vitro study showed that PCCN, thus obtained, could increase the intracellular O2 concentration and improve the reactive oxygen species generation in both hypoxic and normoxic environments upon light irradiation. Cell viability assay demonstrated that PCCN fully reversed the hypoxia-triggered PDT resistance, presenting a satisfactory growth inhibition of cancer cells in an O2 concentration of 1%. In vivo experiments also indicated that PCCN had superior ability to overcome tumor hypoxia. The use of water splitting materials exhibited great potential to improve the intratumoral oxygen level and ultimately reverse the hypoxia-triggered PDT resistance and tumor metastasis.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS), Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, P.R. China.|Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, Hubei University , Wuhan, Hubei 430062, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Di-Wei
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS), Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS), Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chu-Xin
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS), Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jin-Xuan
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS), Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, Hubei University , Wuhan, Hubei 430062, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Cao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Key Laboratory for the Green Preparation and Application of Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, Hubei University , Wuhan, Hubei 430062, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zushun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Biomedical Polymers of Ministry of Education, Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS), Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University , Wuhan 430072, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xian-Zheng
authors.initials: XZ
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D002244:Carbon; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D006801:Humans; D053758:Nanoparticles; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy; D009570:Nitriles; D010778:Photochemotherapy; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D009570:Nitriles; D014867:Water; C011206:cyanogen; D002244:Carbon
keywords: carbon nitride nanoparticle; hypoxic tumor; photodynamic therapy; water splitting