Cancers, Vol. 13, Pages 5275: Dual Targeting with Cell Surface Electrical Charge and Folic Acid via Superparamagnetic Fe3O4@Cu2 –xS for Photothermal Cancer Cell Killing

In this study, the nanoparticles of Fe3O4@Cu2–xS were rendered positively charged by conjugating their surfaces with different functional groups for strong electrostatic binding onto the negatively-charged cancer cells. In addition to the positively charged surfaces, the Fe3O4@Cu2–xS nanoparticles were also modified with folic acid (FA) for biomarker-based cell targeting. The dual-targeting approach synergistically utilizes the effectiveness of both charge- and biomarker-based cell binding for enhanced cell targeting. Further, these superparamagnetic Fe3O4@Cu2–xS nanoparticles exhibit much stronger IR absorptions compared to Fe3O4, therefore much more effective in photothermal therapy.

Source: Cancers - October 21, 2021 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Zicheng Deng Jou Lin Sergey L. Bud ’ko Brent Webster Tanya V. Kalin Vladimir V. Kalinichenko Donglu Shi Tags: Article Source Type: research