Real-Time Imaging of Free Radicals for Mitochondria-Targeting Hypoxic Tumor Therapy

• DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b02670
• Publication Date: 2018-10-16T18:05:16Z
• Authors: Xiao-Qiang Wang; Mengyun Peng; Chu-Xin Li; Yu Zhang; Mingkang Zhang; Ying Tang; Miao-Deng Liu; Bo-Ru Xie; Xian-Zheng Zhang
• Keywords: Free Radicals; Metal Nanoparticles; Apoptosis; Mammary Neoplasms, Animal; 02 engineering and technology; Mitochondria; Molecular Imaging; 3. Good health; Mice; Drug Delivery Systems; Cell Line, Tumor; Animals; Tumor Hypoxia; Female; Gold; 0210 nano-technology

Free radicals have emerged as new-type and promising candidates for hypoxic tumor treatment, and further study of their therapeutic mechanism by real-time imaging is of great importance to explore their biomedical applications. Herein, we present a smart free-radical generator AuNC-V057-TPP for hypoxic tumor therapy; the AuNC-V057-TPP not only exhibits good therapeutic effect under both hypoxic and normoxic conditions but also can monitor the release of free radicals in real-time both in vitro and in vivo. What is more, with the mitochondria-targeting ability, the AuNC-V057-TPP is demonstrated with improved antitumor efficacy through enhanced free radical level in mitochondria, which leads to mitochondrial membrane damage and ATP production reduction and finally induces cancer cell apoptosis.