Volume 61, Issue 14 e202114239
Research Article

Hypoxia-Responsive Platinum Supernanoparticles for Urinary Microfluidic Monitoring of Tumors

Qin Xu

Qin Xu

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023 China

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Yongchun Pan

Yongchun Pan

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023 China

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Xinli Liu

Xinli Liu

Life Science Institute, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, 530021 China

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Yanfeng Gao

Yanfeng Gao

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023 China

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Xiaowei Luan

Xiaowei Luan

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023 China

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Fei Zeng

Fei Zeng

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023 China

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Dongtao Zhou

Dongtao Zhou

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023 China

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Wenxiu Long

Wenxiu Long

Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics & Institute of Advanced Materials, Jiangsu National Synergistic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211816 China

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Yuzhen Wang

Yuzhen Wang

Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics & Institute of Advanced Materials, Jiangsu National Synergistic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211816 China

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Yujun Song

Corresponding Author

Yujun Song

College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Artificial Functional Materials, State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023 China

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First published: 25 January 2022
Citations: 18

Graphical Abstract

Hypoxia-triggered platinum supernanoparticles dissociated into ultrasmall platinum nanoclusters, which could be cleared by the kidney through urine, in response to the tumor microenvironment. After collection of the excreted nanosensors, the disease status was monitored visually and quantitatively by using a microfluidic chip.

Abstract

Cancer has become a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, and there is an increasing need for versatile tools to enable sensitive, simple and early cancer monitoring. Here, we report platinum supernanoparticles as an exogenous nanosensor which can dissociate into ultrasmall platinum nanoclusters (PtNCs) under tumor-specific hypoxia conditions. The resulting PtNCs can be filtered through the kidney as urinary reporters to be quantified by a companion volumetric bar-chart chip (V-Chip) for point-of-care analysis. The V-Chip signals of triple-negative breast cancer and its lung metastasis mouse model showed a significant increase compared to healthy mice. Our nanosensor can also noninvasively monitor the course of treatment, which is significant for screening tumor recurrence and individualized evaluation of pharmacological and follow-up efficacy. Importantly, this strategy could be adapted for various diseases to form a common diagnostic platform by changing responsive linkers.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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