Copper Sulfide Nanoparticles with Phospholipid‐PEG Coating for In Vivo Near‐Infrared Photothermal Cancer Therapy

Abstract

In this work, small sizes of hydrophobic copper sulfide nanoparticles (CuS NPs, ∼3.8 nm in diameter) have been successfully prepared from the reaction of copper chloride with sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (SDEDTC) inside a heated oleylamine solution. These CuS NPs displayed strong absorption in the 700-1100 nm near-infrared (NIR) region. By coating CuS NPs with DSPE-PEG2000 on the surface, the as-synthesized CuS@DSPE-PEG NPs exhibited good water solubility, significant stability and biocompatibility, as well as excellent photothermal conversion effects upon exposure to an 808 nm laser. After intravenous administration to mice, the CuS@DSPE-PEG NPs were found to passively target to the tumor site, and tumor tissues could be ablated efficiency under laser irradiation. In addition, CuS@DSPE-PEG NPs do not show significant toxicity by histological and blood chemistry analysis, and can be effectively excreted via metabolism. Our results indicated that CuS@DSPE-PEG NPs can act as an ideal photothermal agent for cancer photothermal therapy.

Highly Efficient Copper Sulfide‐Based Near‐Infrared Photothermal Agents: Exploring the Limits of Macroscopic Heat Conversion

“…However, upon modeling the behavior of the photothermal agents, we noticed that the HCE value is not only significantly lower than 100% (consistent with many other reports on different materials) but it is strongly influenced by the excitation wavelength and, in general, by the characteristics of the investigated system. The observed discrepancies for the different excitation wavelengths correlate mainly with the properties of the medium in which the nanoparticles are dispersed, and stem from the practical limitations of using macroscopic measurement tools (either calorimetric or optical) to quantify intrinsically microscopic properties.…”

Recent Advances in Functional‐Polymer‐Decorated Transition‐Metal Nanomaterials for Bioimaging and Cancer Therapy

“…CuS has attracted much attention because of its low cost, nontoxicity, and high photothermal conversion efficiency. Moreover, the NIR absorption of CuS particles is not influenced by their morphology or surrounding environment . Therefore, multifunctional nanoplatforms integrating CuS and other nanomaterials have been designed.…”

“…Moreover,t he NIR absorption of CuS particles is not influenced by their morphologyo rs urrounding environment. [83] Therefore, multifunctional nanoplatformsi ntegrating CuS and other nanomaterials have been designed. Recently,M eng et al have developeda na ptamer-conjugated PEG-modifiedM oS 2 -Cu 1.8 S (ATPMC) nanoplatformf or targeted chemo-photothermal therapy (Figure7b).…”

Recent Advances in Functional Polymer Decorated Two‐Dimensional Transition‐Metal Dichalcogenides Nanomaterials for Chemo‐Photothermal Therapy

“…Copper sulfide characterized by low cost, low toxicity, high stability and high photothermal conversion efficiency is emerging as a promising photothermal conversion agents . The NIR light absorption of CuS NPs is derived from the d–d energy band transition of Cu 2+ ions, which is not affected by the particle shape, size and surrounding environment . The prepared ATPMC nanoplatform was adopted to accomplish photoluminescence imaging, photoacoustic imaging, and photothermal imaging for in vitro and in vivo tumor cells imaging diagnosis.…”

“…[10] The NIR light absorption of CuS NPs is derived from the d-d energyb and transition of Cu 2 + ions, which is not affected by the particle shape, size and surrounding environment. [60] The prepared ATPMC nanoplatform was adopted to accomplish photoluminescence imaging, photoacoustic imaging, and photothermal imaging for in vitro and in vivo tumor cells imaging diagnosis. Meanwhile, it also facilitated selectived eliveryo fg ene probe to detecti ntracellular microRNA aberrantly expressed in tumor cells and drug DOX for chemotherapy.T he ATPMC nanoplatforml oaded with DOX displays near-infraredl aser-induced programmed chemotherapy and advanced photothermal therapy.…”