Magneto-fluorescent particles have been recognized as an emerging class of materials that exhibit great potential in advanced applications. However, synthesizing such magneto-fluorescent nanomaterials that simultaneously exhibit uniform and tunable sizes, high magnetic content loading, maximized fluorophore coverage at the surface and a versatile surface functionality has proven challenging. Here we report a simple approach for co-assembling magnetic nanoparticles with fluorescent quantum dots to form colloidal magneto-fluorescent supernanoparticles. Importantly, these supernanoparticles exhibit a superstructure consisting of a close-packed magnetic nanoparticle ‘core’, which is fully surrounded by a ‘shell’ of fluorescent quantum dots. A thin layer of silica coating provides high colloidal stability and biocompatibility, and a versatile surface functionality. We demonstrate that after surface pegylation, these silica-coated magneto-fluorescent supernanoparticles can be magnetically manipulated inside living cells while being optically tracked. Moreover, our silica-coated magneto-fluorescent supernanoparticles can also serve as an in vivo multi-photon and magnetic resonance dual-modal imaging probe.

Significance: Triple negative breast cancers (TNBCs) have a poor prognosis (5-y survival of 74.5%) among all breast cancer patients (5-y survival of greater than 95%) because of the aggressiveness of the disease and the lack of targeted therapeutics. We show that intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is differentially expressed in human TNBC tumor tissues by immunohistochemistry and in human TNBC cell lines via quantification of gene and protein expression. Iron oxide nanoparticles functionalized with ICAM-1 antibody (ICAM-IONP) were synthesized as MRI probes. An in vivo signal enhancement of 2.6-fold for ICAM-IONPs was measured relative to controls, demonstrating that ICAM-1 is a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target for TNBC treatment.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) represent an important class of cancer therapies that have revolutionized the treatment paradigm of solid tumors. To date, many ongoing studies of ADC combinations with a variety of anticancer drugs, encompassing chemotherapy, molecularly targeted agents, and immunotherapy, are being rigorously conducted in both preclinical studies and clinical trial settings. Nevertheless, combination therapy does not always guarantee a synergistic or additive effect and may entail overlapping toxicity risks. Therefore, understanding the current status and underlying mechanisms of ADC combination therapy is urgently required. This comprehensive review analyzes existing evidence concerning the additive or synergistic effect of ADCs with other classes of oncology medicines. Here, we discuss the biological mechanisms of different ADC combination therapy strategies, provide prominent examples, and assess their benefits and challenges. Finally, we discuss future opportunities for ADC combination therapy in clinical practice.