Recently, Professor Yanglong Hou from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering has made an important progress in the research of biomedical application of Fe5C2 nanoparticles. The results titled “Multistimuli-Regulated Photochemothermal Cancer Therapy Remotely Controlled via Fe5C2 Nanoparticles” have been published in the journal “ACS Nano”.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsnano.5b04706

Stimuli-controlled drug delivery and release is of great significance in cancer therapy, making a stimuli responsive drug carrier highly demanded. Light is the most flexible one to alter the treated site and the intensity applied, and thereby to achieve the on-demand drug release.

The Hou group has already presented a facile wet-chemical route for the synthesis of Fe5C2 nanoparticles (NPs), which has good photothermal conversion efficiency. Presently, they developed a multistimuli- controlled drug carrier by coating bovine serum albumin on Fe5C2 nanoparticles. Rely on the electrostatic adsorption, the anticancer drug doxorubicin was loaded on the surface of the nanoparticles. When exposed to near-infrared (NIR) light or acidic conditions, the nanoplatform provides a burst drug release.

In vitro experiment demonstrated cell inhibition was ascribed from cellular uptake of the carrier, enhanced drug release and the combination of photothermal therapy. The carrier is also magnetic-field-responsive, which enables targeted drug delivery under the guidance of a magnetic field and monitors the theranostic effect by magnetic resonance imaging.

In vivo synergistic effect proved that the magnetic-driven accumulation of NPs can induce a complete tumor inhibition. And there were no appreciable side effects to the treated mice by NIR irradiation, owing to the combined photochemotherapy.

Their results highlight the great potential of Fe5C2 NPs as a promising drug carrier that can be controlled by multiple stimuli and for photochemothermal cancer therapy.

Schematic diagram of multistimuli-regulated drug carrier via Fe5C2 nanoparticles for cancer therapy

The Project was mainly completed by PhD student, Jing Yu. Its cooperators included: Dr. Fugeng Sheng from Affiliated Hospital of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Prof. Jian Lin from College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Peking University, Prof. Linyun Zhao from Tsinghua University, etc. The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (51125001, 51172005), the Research Fellowship for International Young Scientists of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51450110437).