Yuri Choi1, Seongchan Kim2, Myung-Ho Choi2, Soo-Ryoon Ryoo2, Jongnam Park1, Dal-Hee Min2,* and Byeong-Su Kim1,*
1Department of Chemistry and Department of Energy Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, Korea
2Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University, Center for RNA Research, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul, Korea
Y. Choi and S. Kim contributed equally to this work.
*Corresponding authors
Abstract
Photosensitizers (PSs) are light-sensitive molecules that are highly hydrophobic, which poses a challenge to their use for targeted photodynamic therapy. Hence, considerable efforts have been made to develop carriers for the delivery of PSs. Herein, a novel design is described of highly biocompatible, fluorescent, folic acid (FA)-functionalized carbon nanodots (CDs) as carriers for the PS zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) to achieve simultaneous biological imaging and targeted photodynamic therapy. FA is modified on PEG-passivated CDs (CD-PEG) for targeted delivery to FA-positive cancer cells, and ZnPc is loaded onto CD-PEG-FA via ㅠ-ㅠ stacking interactions. CD-PEG-FA/ZnPc exhibits excellent targeted delivery of the PS, leading to simultaneous imaging and significant targeted photodynamic therapy after irradiation in vitro and in vivo. The present CD-based targeted delivery of PSs is anticipated to offer a convenient and effective platform for enhanced photodynamic therapy to treat cancers in the near future.
Keywords: carbon nanodots; photodynamic therapy; targeted therapy; drug delivery; bioimaging; fluorescence; cancer therapy