Hitherto-Unexplored Photodynamic Therapy of Ag2S and Enhanced Regulation Based on Polydopamine In Vitro and Vivo

Given their superior penetration depths, photosensitizers with longer absorption wavelengths present broader application prospects in photodynamic therapy (PDT). Herein, Ag2S quantum dots were discovered, for the first time, to be capable of killing tumor cells through the photodynamic route by near-infrared light irradiation, which means relatively less excitation of the probe compared with traditional photosensitizers absorbing short wavelengths. On modification with polydopamine (PDA), PDA-Ag2S was obtained, which showed outstanding capacity for inducing reactive oxygen species (increased by 1.69 times). With the addition of PDA, Ag2S had more opportunities to react with surrounding O-2, which was demonstrated by typical triplet electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis. Furthermore, the PDT effects of Ag2S and PDA-Ag2S achieved at longer wavelengths were almost identical to the effects produced at 660 nm, which was proved by studies in vitro. PDA-Ag2S showed distinctly better therapeutic effects than Ag2S in experiments in vivo, which further validated the enhanced regulatory effect of PDA. Altogether, a new photosensitizer with longer absorption wavelength was developed by using the hitherto-unexplored photodynamic function of Ag2S quantum dots, which extended and enhanced the regulatory effect originating from PDA.