Tailoring morphologies of mesoporous polydopamine nanoparticles to deliver high-loading radioiodine for anaplastic thyroid carcinoma imaging and therapy

Nanoscale. 2021 Sep 17;13(35):15021-15030. doi: 10.1039/d1nr02892h.

Abstract

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC), as one of the most aggressive human malignancies, cannot be cured by 131iodine (131I) internal radiotherapy (RT) because the tumor cells cannot effectively take up 131I and are resistant to radiotherapy. In this study, a facile and simple method was proposed to synthesize mesoporous polydopamine nanoparticles (MPDA) and tailor their morphologies by component-adjusting Pluronic micelle-guided polymerization. Then, MPDA were used not only as nanocarriers to radiolabel 131I, but also as photothermal conversion agents for photothermal therapy (PTT) to promote RT. The iodine-labeling capacity and photothermal conversion efficiency of MPDA can be enhanced by optimizing their morphologies. It was found that MPDA NPs with a cerebroid pore channel structure (CPDA) showed the highest iodine-carrying capacity and a higher photothermal conversion efficiency as a result of their maximum specific surface area and unique morphology. In subsequent experiments in vitro and in vivo, our ATC animal models showed impressive therapeutic responses to CPDA-131I NPs because of the synergistic effect of PTT and RT. Additionally, CPDA-125I NPs can be utilized to obtain high-quality SPETC/CT images of tumors, which can guide clinical therapy for ATC. Considering their great biosafety, these radioiodine-labeled CPDA NPs may serve as a promising tool in combined therapy and diagnosis in ATC.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Humans
  • Indoles
  • Iodine Radioisotopes / therapeutic use
  • Nanoparticles*
  • Phototherapy
  • Polymers
  • Thyroid Carcinoma, Anaplastic* / diagnostic imaging
  • Thyroid Carcinoma, Anaplastic* / therapy
  • Thyroid Neoplasms* / diagnostic imaging
  • Thyroid Neoplasms* / therapy

Substances

  • Indoles
  • Iodine Radioisotopes
  • Polymers
  • polydopamine