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Facile one-pot synthesis of multifunctional polyphosphazene nanoparticles as multifunctional platform for tumor imaging

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Abstract

By integrating imaging and drug-delivery in a single system, fluorescent nano-multifunctional imaging platforms can offer simultaneous diagnosis and therapy to diseases like cancer. However, the synthesis of such system involves a tedious, time-consuming, and multi-step process. Herein we report a facile method based on simple ultrasonication to synthesize highly cross-linked, monodispersed fluorescent polyphosphazene nanoparticles from hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene (HCCP) and dichlorofluorescein (FD). Various functional groups (folic acid, PEG-NH2, and methylene blue) can be “fastened” in situ onto the poly(cyclotriphosphazene-co-dichlorofluorescein) (PCTPDF) nanoparticles to expand its application as nano-multifunctional platform. All the nanoparticles were characterized spectrophotometrically, and morphology was established by the images obtained from scanning electron microscope (SEM). The synthesized multifunctional nanoparticles exhibited low toxicity and penetrated through the cytomembranes of human colon cancer (HCT 116) cells. When applied to in vivo tumor imaging using biologically engineered mouse model, methylene blue functionalized (PCTPDF@MB) nanoparticles exhibited excellent photodynamic activity and imaging ability. Thus, PCTPDF nanoplatform based on multi-functional fluorescent nanoparticles might offer an efficient solution to new age theranostics. Apart from diagnostics application, PCTPDF, as a nanoplatform, could also be utilized to achieve more comprehensive application in modern analytic chemistry.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (61335012).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Science, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, Shaanxi, China

    Zongfang Wang & Min Hu

  2. College of Medicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710061, Shaanxi, China

    Shugang Hu

  3. Key Laboratory of Environment and Genes Related to Diseases, College of Medicine, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710061, Shaanxi, China

    Jia Han, Zhenzhen Wang, Yanke Chen & Cheng Huang

  4. The Biomedical-Information Engineering Laboratory of State Ministry of Education, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, Shaanxi, China

    Lei Fu & Zhenxi Zhang

Authors
  1. Zongfang Wang
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  2. Min Hu
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  3. Shugang Hu
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  4. Jia Han
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  7. Cheng Huang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Min Hu.

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All animal experiments were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Xi'an Jiaotong University and were performed according to the institution's guidelines for the use of laboratory animals.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Wang, Z., Hu, M., Hu, S. et al. Facile one-pot synthesis of multifunctional polyphosphazene nanoparticles as multifunctional platform for tumor imaging. Anal Bioanal Chem 410, 3723–3730 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-1035-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-1035-5

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