title: Construction of magnetic-carbon-quantum-dots-probe-labeled apoferritin nanocages for bioimaging and targeted therapy.
abstract: Carbon dots (CDs) are one of the most highlighted carbon-based materials for biological applications, such as optical imaging nanoprobes, which are used for labeling cells in cancer treatment mainly due to their biocompatibility and unique optical properties. In this study, gadolinium (Gd)-complex-containing CDs were obtained through a one-step microwave method to develop multimodal nanoprobes integrating the advantages of optical and magnetic imaging. The obtained Gd-CDs exhibited highly fluorescent properties with excellent water solubility and biological compatibility. Natural apoferritin (AFn) nanocages, an excellent drug delivery carrier, are hollow in structure, with their pH-dependent, unfolding-refolding process at pH 2.0 and 7.4. The chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin (DOX) can be highly effective and encapsulated into AFn cavity. A widely used tumor-targeting molecule, folic acid (FA), functionalized the surface of AFn to obtain an active tumor targeting effect on MCF-7 cells and malignant tumors in mice models. In this study, an AFn nanocarrier encapsulating high concentration of DOX labeled with magnetic and fluorescent Gd-CDs probe was developed. Gd-CDs exhibited a unique green photoluminescence and almost no toxicity compared with free GdCl3. Furthermore, Gd-doped CDs significantly increased the circulation time and decreased the toxicity of Gd3+in in vitro and in vivo magnetic resonance imaging, which demonstrated that the AFn nanocages labeled with Gd-CD compounds could serve as an excellent T1contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging. The self-assembling multifunctional Gd-CDs/AFn (DOX)/FA nanoparticles have a great potential for cancer theranostic applications.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University; Collaborative Innovation Center of Drug Research and Safety Evaluation, Henan Province.
authors.forename: Hanchun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University.
authors.forename: Man
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chengqun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University; Collaborative Innovation Center of Drug Research and Safety Evaluation, Henan Province.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University; Collaborative Innovation Center of Drug Research and Safety Evaluation, Henan Province.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
keywords: Gd-CDs; apoferritin nanocages; fluorescence; imaging; magnetic