Chemiluminescent liposomes as a theranostic carrier for detection of tumor cells under oxidative stress

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is one of the main source of oxidative stress and a typical marker of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-associated diseases. Therefore, selective detection and scavenging of overproduced H2O2 provide enormous benefits to the successful treatment of ROS-related diseases. The authors took advantage of this property to detect cancer cells using chemiluminescent peroxyoxalate reaction. Here, a new contrast agent presented for hydrogen peroxide, termed peroxyoxalate liposomes, which detect hydrogen peroxide through chemiluminescence reaction, and have the physical/chemical properties needed for imaging applications. The peroxyoxalate liposomes are composed of Bis (2, 4, 6-trichlorphenyl) oxalate (TCPO) and curcumin as fluorophore. Experimental factors such as TCPO, imidazole, hydrogen peroxide and curcumin concentration were optimized. Moreover, application of curcumin makes it possible to design a system for selective tumor destruction. In the reaction of peroxyoxalate, it acts as an oxalate activator with intracellular hydrogen peroxide and experiences excitation as a result of the reaction. In addition, curcumin also acts as a photosensitizer (PS) causing cell damage. In the optimum conditions, the measurable concentration range of 0.86-220 μM of hydrogen peroxide were evaluated from the linear calibration curve with satisfactory RSD% and corresponding detection limits of 650 nM. Therefore, it has the sensitivity needed to detect physiological concentrations of hydrogen peroxide. Moreover, cellular uptake experiments showed that the liposomes enhance extravasation into permeable membranes and significantly increased the bioavailability of curcumin.