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Silica-based nanoarchitecture for an optimal combination of photothermal and chemodynamic therapy functions of Cu2−xS cores with red emitting carbon dots

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Abstract

This study introduces multifunctional silica nanoparticles that exhibit both high photothermal and chemodynamic therapeutic activities, in addition to luminescence. The activity of the silica nanoparticles is derived from their plasmonic properties, which are a result of infusing the silica nanoparticles with multiple Cu2−xS cores. This infusion process is facilitated by a recoating of the silica nanoparticles with a cationic surfactant. The key factors that enable the internal incorporation of the Cu2−xS cores and the external deposition of red-emitting carbon dots are identified. The Cu2−xS cores within the silica nanoparticles exhibit both self-boosting generation of reactive oxygen species and high photothermal conversion efficacy, which are essential for photothermal and chemodynamic activities. The silica nanoparticles’ small size (no more than 70 nm) and high colloidal stability are prerequisites for their cell internalization. The internalization of the red-emitting silica nanoparticles within cells is visualized using fluorescence microscopy techniques. The chemodynamic activity of the silica nanoparticles is associated with their dark cytotoxicity, and the mechanisms of cell death are evaluated using an apoptotic assay. The photothermal activity of the silica nanoparticles is demonstrated by significant cell death under near-infrared (1064 nm) irradiation.

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Acknowledgments

The reported study was funded by RFBR and CNR, project number 20-53-7802. Authors gratefully acknowledge to Assigned Spectral-Analytical Center of FRC Kazan Scientific Center of RAS for providing necessary facilities to carry out physical-chemical measurements. The authors thanks to Interdisciplinary Center for Analytical Microscopy at KFU for assistance with the confocal microscopy experiments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arbuzov Institute of Organic and Physical Chemistry, FRC Kazan Scientific Center of RAS, Kazan, 420088, Russia

    Alexey Stepanov, Svetlana Fedorenko, Rustem Zairov, Tatiana Gerasimova, Alexandra Voloshina, Anna Lyubina & Asiya Mustafina

  2. Department of Physics, Kazan National Research Technological University, Kazan, 420015, Russia

    Kirill Kholin

  3. Department of Nanotechnology in Electronics, Kazan National Research Technical University named after A.N. Tupolev-KAI, Kazan, 420111, Russia

    Irek Nizameev & Dmitry Samigullin

  4. Kazan (Volga region) Federal University, Kazan, 420008, Russia

    Alexey Dovzhenko & Rustem Zairov

  5. Kazan Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, FRC Kazan Scientific Center of RAS, Kazan, 420111, Russia

    Guzel Sibgatullina & Dmitry Samigullin

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  1. Alexey Stepanov
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  2. Svetlana Fedorenko
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  3. Kirill Kholin
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Correspondence to Alexey Stepanov.

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Silica-based nanoarchitecture for an optimal combination of photothermal and chemodynamic therapy functions of Cu2−xS cores with red emitting carbon dots

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Stepanov, A., Fedorenko, S., Kholin, K. et al. Silica-based nanoarchitecture for an optimal combination of photothermal and chemodynamic therapy functions of Cu2−xS cores with red emitting carbon dots. Front. Chem. Sci. Eng. 17, 2144–2155 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-023-2362-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-023-2362-4

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