Low-Dose X-ray Excited Photodynamic Therapy Based on NaLuF4:Tb3+-Rose Bengal Nanocomposite

Bioconjug Chem. 2019 Aug 21;30(8):2191-2200. doi: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.9b00429. Epub 2019 Aug 6.

Abstract

X-ray excited photodynamic therapy (X-PDT), which utilizes X-rays as the energy source and X-ray luminescent nanoparticles (XLNPs) as the transducer to excite photosensitizers (PS), resolves the penetration problem of light in traditional PDT to enable the treatment of deep-seated tumors. Nevertheless, the high X-ray dosage used in X-PDT hampers its potential applications in clinics. In this study, to alleviate the dose problem, β-NaLuF4:Tb3+ spherical nanoparticles (NPs) with ultrastrong green X-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL) due to the less nonradiative relaxation probability and high X-ray absorption mass coefficient, which perfectly matches the absorption spectrum of a photosensitizer named rose bengal (RB), were synthesized and employed as the energy transducer for X-PDT. After covalent conjugation of NPs with RB, high Förster resonant energy transfer (FRET) efficiency up to 94.29% was achieved, leading to high production of singlet oxygen. In vivo X-PDT efficacy was evaluated by nude mice with a HepG2 tumor xenograft. With excellent biocompatibility, the synthesized NPs-RB nanocomposite showed significant antitumor efficiency up to 80 ± 12.3% with a total X-ray dose of only 0.19 Gy, demonstrating the feasibility of low-dose X-PDT in vivo for the first time. The present work provides a promising platform for X-PDT in deep-seated tumors.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Hep G2 Cells
  • Heterografts
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Nanocomposites / chemistry*
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Nanoparticles / therapeutic use
  • Neoplasms / therapy*
  • Photochemotherapy / methods*
  • Photosensitizing Agents / radiation effects*
  • Rose Bengal
  • X-Rays*

Substances

  • Photosensitizing Agents
  • Rose Bengal