Issue 15, 2014

Near-infrared light triggered photodynamic therapy in combination with gene therapy using upconversion nanoparticles for effective cancer cell killing

Abstract

Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have drawn much attention in cancer imaging and therapy in recent years. Herein, we for the first time report the use of UCNPs with carefully engineered surface chemistry for combined photodynamic therapy (PDT) and gene therapy of cancer. In our system, positively charged NaGdF4:Yb,Er UCNPs with multilayered polymer coatings are synthesized via a layer by layer strategy, and then loaded simultaneously with Chlorin e6 (Ce6), a photosensitizing molecule, and small interfering RNA (siRNA), which targets the Plk1 oncogene. On the one hand, under excitation by a near-infrared (NIR) light at 980 nm, which shows greatly improved tissue penetration compared with visible light, cytotoxic singlet oxygen can be generated via resonance energy transfer from UCNPs to photosensitizer Ce6, while the residual upconversion luminescence is utilized for imaging. On the other hand, the silencing of Plk1 induced by siRNA delivered with UCNPs could induce significant cancer cell apoptosis. As the result of such combined photodynamic and gene therapy, a remarkably enhanced cancer cell killing effect is realized. Our work thus highlights the promise of UCNPs for imaging guided combination therapy of cancer.

Graphical abstract: Near-infrared light triggered photodynamic therapy in combination with gene therapy using upconversion nanoparticles for effective cancer cell killing

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 May 2014
Accepted
29 May 2014
First published
03 Jun 2014

Nanoscale, 2014,6, 9198-9205

Near-infrared light triggered photodynamic therapy in combination with gene therapy using upconversion nanoparticles for effective cancer cell killing

X. Wang, K. Liu, G. Yang, L. Cheng, L. He, Y. Liu, Y. Li, L. Guo and Z. Liu, Nanoscale, 2014, 6, 9198 DOI: 10.1039/C4NR02495H

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