Long-Circulating Au-TiO₂ Nanocomposite as a Sonosensitizer for ROS-Mediated Eradication of Cancer

Abstract

Although sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has emerged as a potential alternative to conventional photodynamic therapy, the low quantum yield of the sonosensitizer such as TiO nanoparticles (NPs) is still a major concern. Here, we have developed hydrophilized Au-TiO nanocomposites (HAu-TiO NCs) as sonosensitizers for improved SDT. The physicochemical properties of HAu-TiO NCs were thoroughly studied and compared with their counterparts without gold deposition. Upon exposure of HAu-TiO NCs to ultrasound, a large quantity of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were generated, leading to complete suppression of tumor growth after their systemic administration in vivo. Overall, it was evident that the composites of gold with TiO NPs significantly augmented the levels of ROS generation, implying their potential as SDT agents for cancer therapy.

Nanoparticle-assisted ultrasound: A special focus on sonodynamic therapy against cancer

“…Compared to bare TiO 2 NPs, the authors showed that Au-TiO 2 NPs generated a greater amount of ROS and lead to complete suppression of tumor growth, in-vivo (Fig. 6) [135]. More recently, Dai et al [136] developed a novel nanoconstruct (NC) functionalizing two-dimensional (2D) reduced graphene oxide (GR) with TiO 2 NPs (TiO 2 -GR NC).…”

“…Hydrophilized Au-TiO 2 NPs (HAu-TiO 2 NCs) resulted in tumor regression. Adapted with permission from [135]. Copyright 2016, American Chemical Society.…”

Nanoscale Metal‐Organic Frameworks: Synthesis, Biocompatibility, Imaging Applications, and Thermal and Dynamic Therapy of Tumors

“…Usually, inorganic particles have high physical and chemical stability . TiO 2 , as the most typical representative, can enhance SDT for cancer treatment without connecting any organic material, but the rapid combination of electron–hole pairs limits the generation of ROS, then limits the efficiency of SDT . Organic sound sensitizers, accounting for the majority in sonosensitizers, are mainly composed of porphyrins and their derivatives with excellent properties of producing ROS under the stimulation of external energy .…”

Advanced Nanotechnology Leading the Way to Multimodal Imaging‐Guided Precision Surgical Therapy

“…[343][344][345][346] Chen's team has been aggressively explored synergistic SDT for cancer therapeutics based on nanomedicine. SDT has the advantages in deeper tissue penetration and nonphototoxicity to NT compared with PDT, providing a promising cancer therapy paradigm and receiving an increasing amount of research attention.…”