Size Switchable Nanoclusters Fueled by Extracellular ATP for Promoting Deep Penetration and MRI-Guided Tumor Photothermal Therapy

Protein-based theranostic agents (PBTAs) exhibit superior performance in the diagnosis and therapy of cancers. However, the in vivo applications of PBTA are largely limited by undesired accumulation, penetration, or selectivity. Here, an ATP-supersensitive protein cluster is fabricated for promoting PBTA delivery and enhancing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided tumor photothermal therapy. Gd3+- and CuS-coloaded small bovine serum albumin nanoparticles (GdCuB) are synthesized as the model protein with a size of 9 nm and are encapsulated into charge switchable polycations (DEP) to form DEP/GdCuB nanoclusters of 120 nm. In blood circulation, DEP/GdCuB significantly extends the half-lifetime and thereby enhances the tumor accumulation of GdCuB. When the clusters reach the tumor site, the extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) can effectively trigger the release of GdCuB, resulting in tumoral deep penetration as well as the activation of T-1-weighted MRI (r(1) value switched from 2.8 x 10(-3) to 11.8 x 10(-3) m(-1) s(-1)). Furthermore, this delivery strategy also improves the tumoral photothermal therapy efficacy with the MRI-guided therapy. The study of ATP-activated nanoclusters develops a novel strategy for tumor deep penetration and on/off imaging of PBTA by size switchable technology, and reveals the potential for MRI-guided therapy of cancers.