Manipulation of novel nano-prodrug composed of organic pigment-based hybrid network and its optical uses

•CNH-Pyro showed red emissions within cellular medium.•Intracellular imaging evaluation has been explored by four cell lines.•Photodynamic therapy has been carried out in vitro.

Here we developed the first case of pyropheophorbide-a-loaded PEGylated-hybrid carbon nanohorns (CNH-Pyro) to study tumor targeting therapy. During incubation with living cells, CNH-Pyro exhibited very intense red emissions. The intracellular imaging results were carried out by flow cytometry based on four different kinds of cell lines (including three adherent cell lines and one suspension cell line). Compared with free pyropheophorbide-a, CNH-Pyro demonstrated enhanced photodynamic tumor ablation efficiency during in vitro experiments due to improved biocompatibility of the hybrid nanomaterial and the photothermal therapy effect derived from carbon-network structure. Trypan blue staining experiments supported that the cell fate was dependent on the synergistic effects of both CNH-Pyro and laser irradiations. These results indicated that the chlorin-entrapped carbon nanohorns could provide powerful delivery vehicles for increasing photodynamic efficacy and possess early identification of the disease.

Graphical abstractThis nano-sized medicine can be defined as the development of pyropheophorbide-a-formulated hybrid carbon nano-horns (abbreviated as CNH-Pyro) with the capability of tumor targeting therapy. The unfavorable fluorescence quenching features of the organic pigments in PBS buffer have been converted into desirable luminescence in cellular medium. The intracellular imaging results were carried out by flow cytometry based on four different kinds of cell lines (including three adherent cell lines and one suspension cell line). In contrast to pure pyropheophorbide-a, the therapeutic efficiency of CNH-Pyro has been enhanced during in vitro experiments.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide