Near-Infrared Light-Mediated Photodynamic Therapy Nanoplatform by the Electrostatic Assembly of Upconversion Nanoparticles with Graphitic Carbon Nitride Quantum Dots.
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising antitumor treatment that is based on photosensitizers. This therapy kills cancer cells by generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) after irradiation with specific laser wavelengths. Being a potential photosensitizer, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) quantum dots (QDs) are noncytotoxic. Although the use of g-C3N4QDs is challenged by the limited tissue penetration of UV light, g-C3N4QDs display excellent ultraviolet (UV) light-triggered cytotoxicity. The g-C3N4QDs were synthesized using a solid-phase hydrothermal method. The well-distributed hydrophilic g-C3N4can be combined with NaYF4:Yb3+/Tm3+upconversion nanoparticles via the positive ligand poly(l-lysine) to produce the final nanocomposite, NaYF4:Yb/Tm-PLL@g-C3N4. Upconversion nanoparticles can transfer IR light into UV light and promote g-C3N4to release blue-to-green visible light to generate different images. Moreover, g-C3N4is a promising photosensitizer in PDT because g-C3N4can transfer oxygen into toxic ROS. The singlet oxygen formed by g-C3N4displays great potential for use in the treatment of cancer.
Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University , Taipei 106, Taiwan.|Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials Chemistry and Physics, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China.
Ming-Hsien
MH
Chan
Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University , Taipei 106, Taiwan.
Chieh-Wei
CW
Chen
Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University , Taipei 106, Taiwan.
I-Jung
IJ
Lee
Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica , Taipei 115, Taiwan.
Yung-Chieh
YC
Chan
Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials Chemistry and Physics, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China.
Datao
D
Tu
Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica , Taipei 115, Taiwan.|Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University , Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
Michael
M
Hsiao
Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica , Taipei 115, Taiwan.
Chung-Hsuan
CH
Chen
Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials Chemistry and Physics, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China.
Xueyuan
X
Chen
Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University , Taipei 106, Taiwan.|Genomics Research Center, Academia Sinica , Taipei 115, Taiwan.|Department of Mechanical Engineering and Graduate Institute of Manufacturing Technology, National Taipei University of Technology , Taipei 106, Taiwan.
Ru-Shi
RS
Liu