Construction of dual-functional polymer nanomaterials with near-infrared fluorescence imaging and polymer prodrug by RAFT-mediated aqueous dispersion polymerization

Abstract

The performance of functional polymer nanomaterials is a vigorously discussed topic in polymer science. We devoted ourselves to investigating polymer nanomaterials based on near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging and polymer prodrug in this study. Aza-boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) is an important organic dye, having characteristics such as environmental resistance, light resistance, high molar extinction coefficient, and fluorescence quantum yield. We incorporated it into our target monomer, which can be polymerized without changing its parent structure in a polar solvent and copolymerized with water-soluble monomer to improve the solubility of the dye in an aqueous solution. At the same time, the hydrophobic drug camptothecin (CPT) was designed as a prodrug monomer, and the polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) with NIR fluorescence imaging and prodrug were synthesized in situ in reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT)-mediated aqueous dispersion polymerization. The dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed the final uniform size of the dual-functional polymeric NPs morphology. The dual-functional polymeric NPs had a strong absorption and emission signal in the NIR region (>650 nm) based on the fluorescence tests. In consideration of the long-term biological toxicity, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) results indicated that the dual-functional NPs with controlled drug content exhibited effective capability of killing HeLa cells. In addition, in vivo imaging of the dual-functional NPs was observed in real time, and the fluorescent signals clearly demonstrated the dynamic process of prodrug transfer.

Stable J‐Aggregation of an aza‐BODIPY‐Lipid in a Liposome for Optical Cancer Imaging

“…Nanotechnology can significantly improve the bioavailability of aza‐BODIPYs by resolving solubility issues in aqueous media, and this has led to the increasing popularity of supramolecular aza‐BODIPY constructs as new biophotonic nanomaterials. Aza‐BODIPY molecules have been encapsulated in polymeric micelles, quantum dots, and inorganic nanoparticles . Nevertheless, the development of new aza‐BODIPY nanoparticles for optical imaging remains of great interest.…”

RAFT-mediated polymerization-induced self-assembly (RAFT-PISA): current status and future directions

“…20 Up to now, many morphologies have been realized via PISA, including spheres, rods, worms, vesicles, framboidal vesicles, 21,22 multilamellar vesicles, 23 lamellae, 24 spongosomes, [25][26][27][28][29][30][31] hexosomes, [25][26][27]32 cubosomes, 25,26,32 Janus particles, 33,34 colloidal molecules, 33,34 and many others. The synthesized particles have a broad range of applications in the areas of biomedical, [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53] coating, 54,55 catalysis [56][57][58][59][60] and Pickering emulsions 22,[61]<...…”

Inhibiting Radiative Transition-Mediated Multifunctional Polymeric Nanoplatforms for Highly Efficient Tumor Phototherapeutics

“…Boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) and its derivatives have been widely explored in biological fields because of its superior characteristics, including excellent biosafety, excellent spectroscopic properties, and facile modification. − In the past, based on these advantages, especially for specific high fluorescence quantum yield, BODIPYs have been widely served as nanoprobes for biologically active substances and diagnostic reagents for imaging-guided tumor therapies. − More recently, BODIPYs have demonstrated great potential as a PTA for photoinduced tumor ablation. − However, despite the great advances of these BODIPY derivatives in tumor phototheranostics, it is worth noting that the therapeutic efficacy of the most reported BODIPY PTAs is similar to that of many conventional PTAs owing to their non-negligible radiative transition. To accomplish efficient phototherapeutics, an effective strategy could be proposed to reduce the radiative transition of PTAs.…”