Photothermogenetic inhibition of cancer stemness by near-infrared-light-activatable nanocomplexes.
Yue YuXi YangSheethal ReghuSunil C KaulRenu WadhwaEijiro MiyakoPublished in: Nature communications (2020)
Strategies for eradicating cancer stem cells (CSCs) are urgently required because CSCs are resistant to anticancer drugs and cause treatment failure, relapse and metastasis. Here, we show that photoactive functional nanocarbon complexes exhibit unique characteristics, such as homogeneous particle morphology, high water dispersibility, powerful photothermal conversion, rapid photoresponsivity and excellent photothermal stability. In addition, the present biologically permeable second near-infrared (NIR-II) light-induced nanocomplexes photo-thermally trigger calcium influx into target cells overexpressing the transient receptor potential vanilloid family type 2 (TRPV2). This combination of nanomaterial design and genetic engineering effectively eliminates cancer cells and suppresses stemness of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Finally, in molecular analyses of mechanisms, we show that inhibition of cancer stemness involves calcium-mediated dysregulation of the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway. The present technological concept may lead to innovative therapies to address the global issue of refractory cancers.
Keyphrases
- cancer stem cells
- stem cells
- papillary thyroid
- photodynamic therapy
- epithelial mesenchymal transition
- squamous cell
- induced apoptosis
- cell proliferation
- drug release
- drug delivery
- cancer therapy
- signaling pathway
- fluorescence imaging
- genome wide
- childhood cancer
- fluorescent probe
- gene expression
- single molecule
- cell death
- neuropathic pain
- spinal cord injury
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- combination therapy
- risk assessment
- climate change
- binding protein
- brain injury
- copy number
- quantum dots
- human health