ICG-Loaded PEG-Modified Black Phosphorus Nanosheets for Fluorescence Imaging-Guided Breast Cancer Therapy

Indocyanine green (ICG) has been used in various surgical navigation systems and plays an important role in intraoperative imaging diagnosis. However, the poor photostability and unsatisfactory tumor-targeting ability have limited its broad application prospects. In the decades, the construction of a nanodrug delivery system for tumor-targeting diagnosis and therapy has become a research hotspot. Black phosphorus nanosheets (BPNS), as a new kind of biodegradable nanomaterials, have the advantages of high loading capacity, good biocompatibility, tumor targeting, and photothermal effect over other two-dimensional (2D) reported nanomaterials. Herein, ICG-loaded poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-modified BPNS (ICG@BPNS-PEG) nanocomposites are constructed to improve the tumor-targeting capacity and guide photothermal therapy through real-time fluorescence imaging. In this study, ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites with a suitable size (240 ± 28 nm) have been successfully constructed. The photostability of ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites surpassed that of free ICG after four on-off cycles of near laser irradiation (NIR). Moreover, ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites have enhanced photothermal conversion ability. The cellular uptake result through flow cytometry showed that ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites could be swallowed easily owing to the suitable size and passive cellular uptake. In addition, the cytotoxicity evaluation of MCF-7, 4T1 breast cancer cells, and healthy RPE cells through the MTT assay demonstrated that ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites have lower cytotoxicity and good cellular compatibility without irradiation. However, the cytotoxicity and live/dead staining proved that ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites have satisfactory photothermal therapeutic effects when irradiated. In the 4T1-bearing mice model, the fluorescence imaging after intravenous injection of nanocomposites showed that ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites have superior passive tumor targeting accumulation through the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect compared with that of free ICG. Also, changes in tumor volume showed a remarkable tumor growth inhibition effect compared with other groups. Moreover, the results of hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining of major organs in 4T1-bearing mice also demonstrated that the nanocomposites have good biocompatibility. Therefore, the constructed ICG@BPNS-PEG nanocomposites have substantial potential in breast cancer therapy.