Citation: Wenli MA, Liyan WANG, Jibo ZONG, Zhaofeng SUN, Deshuang TU, Changsheng LU, Hong YAN. Boron cluster modified gold nanoclusters for boron neutron capture therapy[J]. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, ;2026, 42(6): 1146-1154. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20260053 shu

Boron cluster modified gold nanoclusters for boron neutron capture therapy

Wenli MA ^{1, 2} ,
Liyan WANG ¹ ,
Jibo ZONG ¹ ,
Zhaofeng SUN ¹ ,
Deshuang TU ^1,, ,
Changsheng LU ^1,, ,
Hong YAN ^1,,

1.
State Key Laboratory of Coordination Chemistry, School of Chemistry, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
2.
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo, Shandong 255000, China

Corresponding author: Deshuang TU, tudeshuang@nju.edu.cn Changsheng LU, luchsh@nju.edu.cn Hong YAN, hyan1965@nju.edu.cn
Received Date: 12 February 2026
Revised Date: 17 March 2026

Figures(7)

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) enables cell-level precision in cancer ablation through the emission of high-energy particles upon neutron irradiation of boron-containing agents. However, clinically employed boron carriers, including boronophenylalanine (BPA) and sodium mercaptoundecahydro-closo-dodecaborate (BSH), suffer from limited boron loading capacity and lack intrinsic imaging capability, which significantly limits their therapeutic efficacy. In this study, icosahedral carborane was selected as a boron-rich source, while gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) were utilized as a fluorescent scaffold. Through surface functionalization with glucose moieties, a novel boron delivery platform (AuGSCB-Glu) was constructed that integrates tumor targeting, boron enrichment, and fluorescence imaging into a single nanostructure. The resulting probe exhibited highly selective fluorescence imaging toward breast cancer MCF-7 cells and markedly enhanced intracellular boron accumulation, ultimately leading to effective BNCT performance at the cellular level.
- carboranes,
- boron clusters,
- boron neutron capture therapy,
- gold nanoclusters
1. [1]
2. [2]
  HU K, YANG Z M, ZHANG L L, XIE L, WANG L, XU H, JOSEPHSON L, LIANG S H, ZHANG M R. Boron agents for neutron capture therapy[J]. Coord. Chem. Rev., 2020, 405(15): 213139
3. [3]
  SOLOWAY A H, TJARKS W, BARNUM B A, RONG F G, BARTH R F, CODOGNI I M J. WILSON G. The chemistry of neutron capture therapy[J]. Chem. Rev., 1998, 98(4): 1515-1562
4. [4]
  JUNG H S, VERWILST P, SHARMA A, SHIN J, SESSLER J L, KIM J S. Organic molecule-based photothermal agents: An expanding photothermal therapy universe[J]. Chem. Soc. Rev., 2018, 47(7): 2280-2297 doi: 10.1039/C7CS00522A
5. [5]
  LI J Y, TU Z Y, LIU Z B. Development history of boron delivery agents[J]. Scientia Sinica Chimica, 2020, 50(10): 1296-1319
6. [6]
  BECK-SICKINGER A, BECKER D P, CHEPURNA O, DAS B, FLIEGER S, HEY-HAWKINS E, HOSMANE N, NAKAMURA J H, PATIL R, VICENTE M, VIÑAS C. New boron delivery agents[J]. Cancer Biother. Radiopharm., 2023, 38(3): 160-172
7. [7]
  MA W L, WANG Y Y, XUE Y L, WANG M M, LU C S, GUO W H, LIU Y H, SHU D Y, SHAO G Q, XU Q F, TU D S, YAN H. Molecular engineering of AIE-active boron clustoluminogens for enhanced boron neutron capture therapy[J]. Chem. Sci., 2024, 15(11): 4019-4030 doi: 10.1039/D3SC06222H
8. [8]
  SHI Y X, FU Q, LI J Y, LIU H, ZHANG Z Z, LIU T, LIU Z B. Covalent organic polymer as a carborane carrier for imaging-facilitated boron neutron capture therapy[J]. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2020, 12(50): 55564-55573 doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c15251
9. [9]
  SHI Y X, LI J Y, ZHANG Z Z, DUAN D B, ZHANG Z C, LIU H, LIU T, LIU Z B. Tracing boron with fluorescence and positron emission tomography imaging of boronated porphyrin nanocomplex for imaging-guided boron neutron capture therapy[J]. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2018, 10(50): 43387-43395 doi: 10.1021/acsami.8b14682
10. [10]
  CHEN J J, DAI Q, YANG Q Y, BAO X Y, ZHOU Y, ZHONG H Q, WU L J, WANG T T, ZHANG Z C, LU Y Y, ZHANG Z T, LIN M T, HAN M, WEI Q C. Therapeutic nucleus-access BNCT drug combined CD47-targeting gene editing in glioblastoma[J]. J. Nanobiotechnol., 2022, 20: 102 doi: 10.1186/s12951-022-01304-0
11. [11]
  XU S W, YANG L L, CAO H J, TU D S, WEI X, LU C S, YAN H. Research progress on light-induced functionalization of polyhedral carborane clusters[J]. Chinese J. Inorg. Chem., 2025, 41(11): 2187-2200 doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20250192
12. [12]
  LI H H, YAN H, LU C S. Progress in selective B—H bond functionalization of carborane[J]. Chinese J. Inorg. Chem., 2017, 33(8): 1313-1329 doi: 10.11862/CJIC.2017.166
13. [13]
  BOYER D, TAMARAT P, MAALI A, LOUNIS B, ORRIT M. Photothermal imaging of nanometer-sized metal particles among scatterers[J]. Science, 2002, 297(5584): 1160-1163 doi: 10.1126/science.1073765
14. [14]
  SINGH S. Glucose decorated gold nanoclusters: A membrane potential independent fluorescence probe for rapid identification of cancer cells expressing glut receptors[J]. Colloid Surf. B‒Biointerfaces, 2017, 155: 25-34 doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2017.03.052
15. [15]
  SUN J, YANG F, YANG X R. Synthesis of functionalized fluorescent gold nanoclusters for acid phosphatase sensing[J]. Nanoscale, 2015, 7(39): 16372-16380 doi: 10.1039/C5NR04826E
16. [16]
  ZHANG X D, LUO Z T, CHEN J, SONG S S, YUAN X, SHEN X, WANG H, SUN Y M, GAO K, ZHANG L F, FAN S J, LEONG D T, GUO M L, XIE J P. Ultrasmall glutathione-protected gold nanoclusters as next generation radiotherapy sensitizers with high tumor uptake and high renal clearance[J]. Sci. Rep., 2015, 5: 8669
17. [17]
  YING H Q, KIMMELMAN A C, LYSSIOTIS C A, HUA S J, CHU G C, FLETCHER-SANANIKONE E, LOCASALE J W, SON J, ZHANG H L, COLOFF J L, YAN H Y, WANG W, CHEN S J, VIALE A, ZHENG H W, PAIK J, LIM C, GUIMARAES A R, MARTIN E S, CHANG J, HEZEL A F, PERRY S R, HU J, GAN B, XIAO Y, ASARA J, WEISSLEDER R, WANG Y A, CHIN L, CANTLEY L C, DEPINHO R A. Oncogenic Kras maintains pancreatic tumors through regulation of anabolic glucose metabolism[J]. Cell, 2012, 149(3): 656-670 doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.01.058
18. [18]
  ALMUT S, ADRIAN L H. How cancer metabolism is tuned for proliferation and vulnerable to disruption[J]. Nature, 2012, 491: 364-373 doi: 10.1038/nature11706
19. [19]
  YULIYA P G, ELDA G, DAFNA B S. RAS oncogenes: Weaving a tumorigenic web[J]. Nat. Rev. Cancer, 2011, 11: 761-774
20. [20]
  YANG W W, ZHENG Y H, XIA Y, JI H T, CHEN X M, GUO F, LYSSIOTIS C A, ALDAPE K, CANTLEY L C, LU Z M. ERK1/2- dependent phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of PKM2 promotes the Warburg effect[J]. Nat. Cell Biol., 2012, 14: 1295-1304 doi: 10.1038/ncb2629
21. [21]
  DANG C V. Rethinking the Warburg effect with Myc micromanaging glutamine metabolism[J]. Cancer Res., 2010, 70: 859-862
22. [22]
  HEIDEN M G V, CANTLEY L C, THOMPSON C B. Understanding the Warburg effect: The metabolic requirements of cell proliferation[J]. Science, 2009, 324(5930): 1029-1033
23. [23]
  GALLAMINI A, ZWARTHOED C, BORRA A. Positron emission tomography (PET) in oncology[J]. Cancers, 2014, 6(4): 1821-1889
24. [24]
  GILLIES R J, ROBEY I, GATENBY R A. Causes and consequences of increased glucose metabolism of cancers[J]. J. Nucl. Med., 2008, 49(Suppl 2): 24S-42S
25. [25]
  SHAW R J. Glucose metabolism and cancer[J]. Curr. Opin. Cell Biol., 2006, 18(6): 598-608
26. [26]
  RAJENDRAN J G, MANKOFF D A, O'SULLIVAN F, PETERSON L M, SCHWARTZ D L, CONRAD E U, SPENCE A M, MUZI M, FARWELL D G, KROHN K A. Hypoxia and glucose metabolism in malignant tumors: Evaluation by [¹⁸F]fluoromisonidazole and [¹⁸F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography imaging[J]. Clin. Cancer Res., 2004, 10(7): 2245-2252
27. [27]
  VICENTE A M G, MORA M A C, MARTÍN A A L, SÁNCHEZ M D M, CALATAYUD F R, LÓPEZ O V, AUNIÓN R E, AGEITOS A G, CASTREJÓN A S. Glycolytic activity with ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT predicts final neoadjuvant chemotherapy response in breast cancer[J]. Tumor Biol., 2014, 35: 11613-11620
28. [28]
  LIU J B, DUCHESNE P N, YU M X, JIANG X Y, NING X H, VINLUAN R D, PENG ZHANG P, ZHENG J. Luminescent gold nanoparticles with size-independent emission[J]. Angew. Chem. ‒Int. Edit., 2016, 55(31): 8894-8898
29. [29]
  CHENG T M, CHU H L, LEE Y C, WANG D Y, CHANG C C, CHUNG K L, YEN H C, HSIAO C W, PAN, X Y, KUO T R, CHEN C C. Quantitative analysis of glucose metabolic cleavage in glucose transporters overexpressed cancer cells by target-specific fluorescent gold nanoclusters[J]. Anal. Chem., 2018, 90(6): 3974-3980
30. [30]
  CIORAN A M, MUSTETI A D, TEIXIDOR F, KRPETIĆ Z, PRIOR I A, HE Q, KIELY C J, BRUST M, VIÑAS C. Mercaptocarborane-capped gold nanoparticles: Electron pools and ion traps with switchable hydrophilicity[J]. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2012, 134(1): 212-221
1. [1]
  Shengwen XU , Longlong YANG , Houji CAO , Deshuang TU , Xing WEI , Changsheng LU , Hong YAN . Research progress on light-induced functionalization of polyhedral carborane clusters. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2025, 41(11): 2187-2200. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20250192
2. [2]
  Chen LU , Qinlong HONG , Haixia ZHANG , Jian ZHANG . Syntheses, structures, and properties of copper-iodine cluster-based boron imidazolate framework materials. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2025, 41(1): 149-154. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20240407
3. [3]
  Chenyang WANG , Yiyan BAI , Wei ZHANG , Zhaorong LIU , Yuchun WANG . Performance of photo-assisted copper oxide catalyzed hydrolysis of ammonia borane to produce hydrogen. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2026, 42(1): 97-110. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20250116
4. [4]
  Haotong Ma , Mingyu Heng , Yang Xu , Wei Bi , Yingchun Miao , Shuning Xiao . Synergistic carbon doping and Cu loading on boron nitride via microwave synthesis for enhanced atmospheric CO₂ photoreduction. Acta Physico-Chimica Sinica, 2025, 41(11): 100132-0. doi: 10.1016/j.actphy.2025.100132
5. [5]
  Zhongyan Cao , Youzhi Xu , Menghua Li , Xiao Xiao , Xianqiang Kong , Deyun Qian . Electrochemically Driven Denitrative Borylation and Fluorosulfonylation of Nitroarenes. University Chemistry, 2025, 40(4): 277-281. doi: 10.12461/PKU.DXHX202407017
6. [6]
  Ming Chen , Zhenbo Mo . Research Progress on the Synthesis, Structure, and Chemical Reactivity of Borylenes. University Chemistry, 2026, 41(4): 250-263. doi: 10.12461/PKU.DXHX202502123
7. [7]
  Guanghuan Chen , Yinghua Wang , Jinhui Ming , Jian Ling , Zhihui Shao , Chongdao Lu , Yong Shi . 香芹酮β硼化：一个可用于展示反应选择性的教学实验. University Chemistry, 2026, 41(5): 101-108. doi: 10.12461/PKU.DXHX202510042
8. [8]
  Xiaxue Chen , Yuxuan Yang , Ruolin Yang , Yizhu Wang , Hongyun Liu . Adjustable Polychromatic Fluorescence: Investigating the Photoluminescent Properties of Copper Nanoclusters. University Chemistry, 2024, 39(9): 328-337. doi: 10.3866/PKU.DXHX202308019
9. [9]
  Yanting HUANG , Hua XIANG , Mei PAN . Construction and application of multi-component systems based on luminous copper nanoclusters. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2024, 40(11): 2075-2090. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20240196
10. [10]
  Tingting XU , Wenjing ZHANG , Yongbo SONG . Research advances of atomic precision coinage metal nanoclusters in tumor therapy. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2024, 40(12): 2275-2285. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20240229
11. [11]
  Fangxiang SUN , Qing ZHANG , Yifan ZHANG , Haoyi SUN , Akim V. Shmal′ko , Sergey A. Anufriev , Igor B. Sivaev , Deshuang TU , Hong YAN . Pd-catalyzed B—H bond activation and annulation of nido-carborane with terminal olefins: Facile construction of 2D-3D fused polycyclic compounds. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2026, 42(3): 467-478. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20250347
12. [12]
  Peng ZHOU , Xiao CAI , Qingxiang MA , Xu LIU . Effects of Cu doping on the structure and optical properties of Au₁₁(dppf)₄Cl₂ nanocluster. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2024, 40(7): 1254-1260. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20240047
13. [13]
  Feng Lu , Tao Wang , Qi Wang . Preparation and Characterization of Water-Soluble Silver Nanoclusters: A New Design and Teaching Practice in Materials Chemistry Experiment. University Chemistry, 2025, 40(4): 375-381. doi: 10.12461/PKU.DXHX202406005
14. [14]
  Lin LI , Le CHEN , Lingjie HOU , Jiaqi JING , Jiayu DING , Tao ZHOU , Ruiping ZHANG . Smartphone-assisted fluorescent silver nanoclusters as ratiometric sensor for visual colorimetric detection of sulfide. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2025, 41(11): 2261-2271. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20250130
15. [15]
  Zongfei YANG , Xiaosen ZHAO , Jing LI , Wenchang ZHUANG . Research advances in heteropolyoxoniobates. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2024, 40(3): 465-480. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20230306
16. [16]
  Huan LI , Shengyan WANG , Long Zhang , Yue CAO , Xiaohan YANG , Ziliang WANG , Wenjuan ZHU , Wenlei ZHU , Yang ZHOU . Growth mechanisms and application potentials of magic-size clusters of groups Ⅱ-Ⅵ semiconductors. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2024, 40(8): 1425-1441. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20240088
17. [17]
  Xingyuan Lu , Yutao Yao , Junjing Gu , Peifeng Su . Energy Decomposition Analysis and Its Application in the Many-Body Effect of Water Clusters. University Chemistry, 2025, 40(3): 100-107. doi: 10.12461/PKU.DXHX202405074
18. [18]
  Zhiwen HUANG , Qi LIU , Jianping LANG . W/Cu/S cluster-based supramolecular macrocycles and their third-order nonlinear optical responses. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2025, 41(1): 79-87. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20240184
19. [19]
  Qin Hou , Jiayi Hou , Aiju Shi , Xingliang Xu , Yuanhong Zhang , Yijing Li , Juying Hou , Yanfang Wang . Preparation of Cuprous Iodide Coordination Polymer and Fluorescent Detection of Nitrite: A Comprehensive Chemical Design Experiment. University Chemistry, 2024, 39(8): 221-229. doi: 10.3866/PKU.DXHX202312056
20. [20]
  Yuan GAO , Yiming LIU , Chunhui WANG , Zhe HAN , Chaoyue FAN , Jie QIU . A hexanuclear cerium oxo cluster stabilized by furoate: Synthesis, structure, and remarkable ability to scavenge hydroxyl radicals. Chinese Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2025, 41(3): 491-498. doi: 10.11862/CJIC.20240271

Get Citation

PDF

XML

Metrics

PDF Downloads(0)
Abstract views(16)
HTML views(1)

通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com

1.
沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院沈阳 110142