Polydopamine Coated Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes as a Versatile Platform with Radionuclide Labeling for Multimodal Tumor Imaging and Therapy

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) with various unique properties have attracted great attention in cancer theranostics. Herein, SWNTs are coated with a shell of polydopamine (PDA), which is further modified by polyethylene glycol (PEG). The PDA shell in the obtained SWNT@PDA-PEG could chelate Mn2+, which together with metallic nanoparticulate impurities anchored on SWNTs offer enhanced both T1 and T2 contrasts under magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Meanwhile, also utilizing the PDA shell, radionuclide 131I could be easily labeled onto SWNT@PDA-PEG, enabling nuclear imaging and radioisotope cancer therapy. As revealed by MR & gamma imaging, efficient tumor accumulation of SWNT@PDA-131I-PEG is observed after systemic administration into mice. By further utilizing the strong near-infarared (NIR) absorbance of SWNTs, NIR-triggered photothermal therapy in combination with 131I-based radioisotope therapy is realized in our animal experiments, in which a remarkable synergistic antitumor therapeutic effect is observed compared to monotherapies. Our work not only presents a new type of theranostic nanoplatform based on SWNTs, but also suggests the promise of PDA coating as a general approach to modify nano-agents and endow them with highly integrated functionalities.