Facile synthesis of biocompatible magnetic titania nanorods for T1-magnetic resonance imaging and enhanced phototherapy of cancers

Abstract

Cancer treatment has been recently energized by nanomaterials that simultaneously offer diagnostic and therapeutic effects. Among the imaging and treatment modalities in frontline research today, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and phototherapy have gained significant interest due to their noninvasiveness among other intriguing benefits. Herein, Fe(III) was adsorbed on titanium dioxide to develop magnetic Fe–TiO₂ nanocomposites (NCs) which leverage the Fe moiety in a double-edge-sword approach to: (i) achieve T₁-weighted MRI contrast enhancement, and (ii) improve the well-established photodynamic therapeutic efficacy of TiO₂ nanoparticles. Interestingly, the proposed NCs exhibit classic T₁ MRI contrast agent properties (r₁ = 1.16 mM⁻¹ s⁻¹) that are comparable to those of clinically available contrast agents. Moreover, the NCs induce negligible cytotoxicity in traditional methods and show remarkable support to the proliferation of intestine organoids, an advanced toxicity evaluation system based on three-dimensional organoids, which could benefit their potential safe application for in vivo cancer theranostics. Aided by the Fenton reaction contribution of the Fe component of the Fe–TiO₂ NCs, considerable photo-killing of cancer cells is achieved upon UV irradiation at very low (2.5 mW cm⁻²) intensity in typical cancer PDT. It is therefore expected that this study will guide the engineering of other biocompatible magnetic titania-based nanosystems with multi-faceted properties for biomedical applications.