BACKGROUND: Sonodynamic therapy represents an innovative antitumor treatment modality characterized by its non-invasiveness and precise spatiotemporal controllability. This approach offers broad prospects for the non-invasive treatment of medullary thyroid carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE: To prepare lipid nanoparticles coated with a biomimetic cancer cell membrane capable of dual-modality imaging, and to detect the physicochemical properties, targeting ability, imaging efficacy, cytotoxicity, and anti-migration capabilities of the nanoparticles.
METHODS: Dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine, dipalmitoyl phosphatidylglycerol, distearoyl phosphatidylethanolamine-PEG2000, cholesterol, hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether, and perflexane were used as raw materials. Nanoparticles HP@LNP were synthesized using a thin-film hydration-ultrasonication technique, encapsulating hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether within the hydrophobic layer and perflexane within the hydrophilic core of lipid nanostructures. Subsequently, the surface of these nanoparticles HP@LNP was coated with medullary thyroid carcinoma cell membrane, resulting in the creation of biomimetic lipid nanoparticles (MHP@LNP) with active targeting capabilities towards medullary thyroid carcinoma cells. The physicochemical properties, targeting ability, immune evasion capacity, imaging effect, cytotoxicity, and anti-migration properties of MHP@LNP nanoparticles were characterized.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The synthesized MHP@LNP nanoparticles demonstrated a typical core-shell structure, with a diameter of 131.06 nm and an average zeta potential of -30.59 mV. Gel electrophoresis confirmed that the protein profile of the MHP@LNP nanoparticles closely matched that of the cancer cell membrane. Fluorescent colocalization studies indicated a significant overlap between the fluorescence signals of the nanoparticles and the cancer cell membrane. The encapsulation rate and drug loading rate of hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether in MHP@LNP nanoparticles were 87.8% and 14.6% respectively. Upon stimulation with low-intensity focused ultrasound, the MHP@LNP nanoparticles underwent a phase transition, forming microbubbles with ultrasound signal intensity peaking at 4 minutes. Under laser irradiation, the photoacoustic signal intensity was found to be linearly correlated with the mass concentration of the nanoparticles. The MHP@LNP nanoparticles exhibited homologous cell targeting and immune evasion capabilities. Prior to exposure to low-intensity focused ultrasound, the MHP@LNP nanoparticles showed good biocompatibility. However, following ultrasound irradiation, they produced cytotoxic reactive oxygen species, had lethal effect on medullary thyroid carcinoma cells, and inhibited the migration of medullary thyroid carcinoma cells. (2) These findings indicate that MHP@LNP nanoparticles can achieve sonodynamic therapy for the treatment of thyroid medullary carcinoma under ultrasound and photoacoustic dual-modality imaging guidance.