Abstract

Theranostic metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising agents for cancer therapy and diagnosis. Herein, Fe₃O₄@ALA-Zn MOF was prepared and evaluated as an efficient therapeutic and diagnostic agent against brain cancer. Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (Fe NPs) were initially synthesized and then coated with MOF constructed with 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and Zinc ions to form a core–shell nanostructure. The prepared system was characterized by FTIR, PXRD, SEM, TEM and EDX analyses confirming formation of the spherical magnetic ALA-based MOFs having average size of about 30 nm. The results of the cytotoxic assay demonstrated that Fe₃O₄@ALA-Zn MOFs possessed higher toxicity against C₆ cancerous cells than HFF normal cells, which confirmed selective toxicity of the system. Furthermore, Fe₃O₄@ALA-Zn MOF showed higher transverse relaxivity value compared with the naked Fe₃O₄ NPs (318 vs 293 mM⁻¹ s⁻¹, respectively) and improved sensitivity in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These results indicated that the introduced magnetic MOF could simultaneously function as a selective cancer cell killing agent and T₂^*-weighted MRI contrast agent.

Graphic Abstract

中文翻译：

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基于锌和5-氨基乙酰丙酸的磁性金属-有机骨架：MR成像和脑肿瘤治疗

摘要

肿瘤治疗金属-有机框架（MOF）是用于癌症治疗和诊断的有前途的药物。在此，制备了Fe ₃ O ₄ @ ALA-Zn MOF，并对其进行了评价，作为抗脑癌的有效治疗和诊断剂。最初合成Fe ₃ O ₄纳米颗粒（Fe NPs），然后用由5-氨基乙酰丙酸（ALA）和锌离子构成的MOF涂覆，形成核-壳纳米结构。通过FTIR，PXRD，SEM，TEM和EDX分析对所制备的系统进行表征，从而证实形成了具有约30nm的平均尺寸的基于球形磁性ALA的MOF。细胞毒性试验结果表明，Fe ₃ O ₄ @ ALA-Zn MOF对C具有较高的毒性。癌细胞比HFF正常细胞多_6个，这证实了该系统的选择性毒性。此外，Fe ₃ O ₄ @ ALA-Zn MOF与裸露的Fe ₃ O ₄ NPs相比，表现出更高的横向弛豫值（分别为318 vs 293 mM ^-1  s ^-1），并且在磁共振成像（MRI）中具有更高的灵敏度。这些结果表明，引入的磁性MOF可以同时用作选择性的癌细胞杀伤剂和T ₂ ^* -加权MRI造影剂。

图形摘要