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Rhenium‐188 Labeled Tungsten Disulfide Nanoflakes for Self‐Sensitized, Near‐Infrared Enhanced Radioisotope Therapy
Author(s) -
Chao Yu,
Wang Guanglin,
Liang Chao,
Yi Xuan,
Zhong Xiaoyan,
Liu Jingjing,
Gao Min,
Yang Kai,
Cheng Liang,
Liu Zhuang
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201601375
Subject(s) - tumor hypoxia , photothermal therapy , polyethylene glycol , in vivo , materials science , peg ratio , pegylation , radiation therapy , radioresistance , cancer research , nanotechnology , biomedical engineering , chemistry , medicine , organic chemistry , surgery , microbiology and biotechnology , finance , economics , biology
Radioisotope therapy (RIT), in which radioactive agents are administered or implanted into the body to irradiate tumors from the inside, is a clinically adopted cancer treatment method but still needs improvement to enhance its performances. Herein, it is found that polyethylene glycol (PEG) modified tungsten disulfide (WS 2 ) nanoflakes can be easily labeled by 188 Re, a widely used radioisotope for RIT, upon simple mixing. Like other high‐Z elements acting as radiosensitizers, tungsten in the obtained 188 Re‐WS 2 ‐PEG would be able to absorb ionization radiation generated from 188 Re, enabling ‘‘self‐sensitization’’ to enhance the efficacy of RIT as demonstrated in carefully designed in vitro experiments of this study. In the meanwhile, the strong NIR absorbance of WS 2 ‐PEG could be utilized for NIR light‐induced photothermal therapy (PTT), which if applied on tumors would be able to greatly relieve their hypoxia state and help to overcome hypoxia‐associated radioresistance of tumors. Therefore, with 188 Re‐WS 2 ‐PEG as a multifunctional agent, which shows efficient passive tumor homing after intravenous injection, in vivo self‐sensitized, NIR‐enhanced RIT cancer treatment is realized, achieving excellent tumor killing efficacy in a mouse tumor model. This work presents a new concept of applying nanotechnology in RIT, by delivering radioisotopes into tumors, self‐sensitizing the irradiation‐induced cell damage, and modulating the tumor hypoxia state to further enhance the therapeutic outcomes.