1. Photosensitizing deep-seated cancer cells with photoprotein-conjugated upconversion nanoparticles.
- Author
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Park SH, Han S, Park S, Kim HS, Kim KM, Kim S, Lee DY, Lee J, and Kim YP
- Subjects
- Humans, Animals, Mice, Swine, Photosensitizing Agents pharmacology, Light, Breast, Luminescent Proteins, Nanoparticles, Neoplasms drug therapy
- Abstract
To resolve the problem of target specificity and light transmission to deep-seated tissues in photodynamic therapy (PDT), we report a cancer cell-targeted photosensitizer using photoprotein-conjugated upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) with high target specificity and efficient light transmission to deep tissues. Core-shell UCNPs with low internal energy back transfer were conjugated with recombinant proteins that consists of a photosensitizer (KillerRed; KR) and a cancer cell-targeted lead peptide (LP). Under near infrared (NIR)-irradiating condition, the UCNP-KR-LP generated superoxide anion radicals as reactive oxygen species via NIR-to-green light conversion and exhibited excellent specificity to target cancer cells through receptor-mediated cell adhesion. Consequently, this photosensitizing process facilitated rapid cell death in cancer cell lines (MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, and U-87MG) overexpressing integrin beta 1 (ITGB1) receptors but not in a cell line (SK-BR-3) with reduced ITGB1 expression and a non-invasive normal breast cell line (MCF-10A). In contrast to green light irradiation, NIR light irradiation exhibited significant PDT efficacy in cancer cells located beneath porcine skin tissues up to a depth of 10 mm, as well as in vivo tumor xenograft mouse models. This finding suggests that the designed nanocomposite is useful for sensing and targeting various deep-seated tumors., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)
- Published
- 2023
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