Bottom-Up Synthesis of Metal-Ion-Doped WS₂ Nanoflakes for Cancer Theranostics.

Abstract

Recently, two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have received tremendous attention in many fields including biomedicine. Herein, we develop a general method to dope different types of metal ions into WS2 nanoflakes, a typical class of TMDCs, and choose Gd(3+)-doped WS2 (WS2:Gd(3+)) with polyethylene glycol (PEG) modification as a multifunctional agent for imaging-guided combination cancer treatment. While WS2 with strong near-infrared (NIR) absorbance and X-ray attenuation ability enables contrasts in photoacoustic (PA) imaging and computed tomography (CT), Gd(3+) doping offers the nanostructure a paramagnetic property for magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. As revealed by trimodal PA/CT/MR imaging, WS2:Gd(3+)-PEG nanoflakes showed efficient tumor homing after intravenous injection. In vivo cancer treatment study further uncovered that WS2:Gd(3+)-PEG could not only convert NIR light into heat for photothermal therapy (PTT) but also enhance the ionizing irradiation-induced tumor damage to boost radiation therapy (RT). Owing to the improved tumor oxygenation after the mild PTT, the combination of PTT and RT induced by WS2:Gd(3+)-PEG resulted in a remarkable synergistic effect to destroy cancer. Our work highlights the promise of utilizing inherent physical properties of TMDC-based nanostructures, whose functions could be further enriched by elementary doping, for applications in multimodal bioimaging and synergistic cancer therapy.

• Authors: Liang Cheng, Chao Yuan, Sida Shen, Xuan Yi, Hua Gong, Kai Yang, Zhuang Liu
• Journal: ACS nano (ACS Nano) Vol. 9 Issue 11 Pg. 11090-101 (Nov 24 2015) ISSN: 1936-086X [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 26445029 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Ions
• Metals
• Sulfides
• Tungsten Compounds
• Polyethylene Glycols
• Gadolinium

Topics

• Animals
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Fluorescent Antibody Technique
• Gadolinium (chemistry)
• Hyperthermia, Induced
• Ions
• Metals (chemistry)
• Mice, Inbred BALB C
• Nanostructures (chemistry, ultrastructure)
• Neoplasms (therapy)
• Phototherapy
• Polyethylene Glycols (chemistry)
• Sulfides (chemistry)
• Theranostic Nanomedicine (methods)
• Tungsten Compounds (chemistry)