One-step self-assembly of ZnPc/NaGdF4:Yb,Er nanoclusters for simultaneous fluorescence imaging and photodynamic effects on cancer cells

摘要

Upconversion luminescence (UCL) nanoparticles hold great promise as potential photosensitizer carries for photodynamic therapy (PDT), In this study, one-step self-assembly fabrication of ZnPc/NaGdF4:Yb,Er nanoclusters was developed using an amphiphilic PMAO-PEG to encapsulate simultaneously photosensitizer zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) and NaGdF4:Yb,Er nanocrystals via polymer solidification, which has provided a facile and versatile strategy for the design of a drug carrier platform. The ZnPc/ NaGdF4:Yb,Er nanoclusters possessed good dispersibility and excellent UCL. Upon 980 nm light irradiation, the singlet oxygen generated by ZnPc was examined owing to the occurrence of FRET from the NaGdF4:Yb,Er nanocrystals to the ZnPc molecules. Confocal imaging and cell viability (about 50%) performed on HeLa cells exhibited the cell internalization and the remarkable PDT effects of the ZnPc/NaGdF4:Yb,Er nanoclusters. These results demonstrate that the nanoclusters as a drug carrier nanoplatform would be a promising theranostic strategy for the diagnosis and therapy of cancers.