Near-Infrared-II Activatable Symbiotic 2D Carbon–Clay Nanohybrids for Dual Imaging-Guided Combinational Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials hold great potential for cancer theranostic applications, yet their clinical translation faces great challenges of high toxicity and limited therapeutic/diagnostic modality. Here, we have created a kind of symbiotic 2D carbon−2D clay nanohybrids, which are composed of a novel 2D carbon nanomaterial (carbon nanochips, or CNC), prepared by carbonizing a conjugated polymer polydiiodobutadiyne, and a 2D layered aluminosilicate clay mineral montmorillonite (MMT). Intriguingly, with the formation of the nanohybrids, MMT can help the dispersion of CNC, while CNC can significantly reduce the hemolysis and toxicity of MMT. The symbiotic combination of CNC and MMT also leads to a synergistic anti-cancer theranostic effect. CNC has a strong absorption and high photothermal conversion efficiency in the second near-infrared region (NIR-II, 1000−1700 nm), while MMT contains Fe 3+ that can facilitate the generation of reactive oxygen species from highly expressed H 2 O 2 in tumor microenvironment. The nanohybrids not only enable a synergy of photothermal therapy and chemodynamic therapy to suppress the extremely rapid growth of RM1 tumors in mice but also allow for dual photoacoustic and magnetic imaging to guide the drug delivery and NIR-II irradiation execution, hence establishing a highly efficient and biosafe "all-in-one" theranostic platform for precision nanomedicine.

Advances in the two-dimensional layer materials for cancer diagnosis and treatment: unique advantages beyond the microsphere

“…The 2D material has been found to be useful as an enhanced developer for MRI or similar harmless imaging tests without causing damage to normal tissue. Yin et al (2022) created a nanohybrid based on carbon nanochips that not only achieved the synergistic effect of photothermal therapy and chemodynamic therapy to inhibit the extremely rapid growth of RM1 tumors in mice, but also allowed photoacoustic and magnetic imaging, guided drug delivery and IR-II irradiation imaging therapy ( Figure 3 ). These materials also exhibit highly tunable and specific surface coatings, which allow for the conjugation of various biomolecules such as peptides, antibodies, and tumor-targeting ligands.…”

“…(D, E) Correlation quantitative recording of MRI and PAI signals. Reproduced from Yin et al (2022) with permission Copyright 2022, American Chemical Society.…”