Synergistic Chemo-thermal Therapy of Cancer by DNA-Templated Silver Nanoclusters and Polydopamine Nanoparticles

Abstract

Herein, we develop a novel and effective combination nanoplatform for cancer theranostics. Folic acid (FA) is first modified on the photothermal agent of polydopamine (PDA), which possesses excellent near-infrared (NIR) absorbance and thermal conversion features. Temperature-sensitive silver nanoclusters (AgNCs) are then synthesized on the DNA template that also loads the anticancer drug doxorubicin (Dox). After accumulation in cancer cells, PDA generates cytotoxic heat upon excitation of NIR light for photothermal therapy. On the other hand, the temperature increment is able to destroy the template of AgNCs, leading to the fluorescence variation and controlled release of Dox for chemotherapy. The combined nanosystem exhibits outstanding fluorescence tracing, NIR photothermal transduction, as well as chemo drug delivery capabilities. Both in vitro and in vivo results demonstrate excellent tumor growth suppression phenomena and no apparent adverse effects. This research provides a powerful targeted nanoplatform for cancer theranostics, which may have great potential value for future clinical applications.

Synergetic Thermal Therapy for Cancer: State-of-the-Art and the Future

“…Furthermore, through a programmable and wireless control of heating duration, the amount of DOX released from the temperature-sensitive liposomes is successfully controlled [ 63 ]. Temperature sensitive nano-particles can also be made from different materials such as Evans blue derivative-functionalized gold nanorods [ 64 ], CoFe 2 O 4 @PDA@ZIF-8 sandwich nanocomposite [ 65 ], DNA-templated silver nanoclusters and polydopamine nanoparticles [ 66 ], camptothecin-conjugated gold nanorods [ 67 ], and ZIF-8 coated ZrO 2 [ 68 ] for thermally controlled release of the drug. These particles are also found to be able to increase local adsorption of heat at the same time.…”

Gold nanorods/tetrahedral DNA composites for chemo-photothermal therapy

“…Nowadays, more effective therapeutic models including photothermal therapy (PTT) [ 30 ], photodynamic therapy [ 31 , 32 ], immunotherapy [ 33 ] and gene therapy [ 34 ] have been exploited to avoid drawbacks of traditional methods. With the merits of low invasiveness, user-friendly control, effective targeting, low toxicity and controllable dose, PTT has received much attention [ 35 , 36 ]. Photothermal agents kill cancer cells with rapid increased surrounding environmental temperature via harvesting near-infrared (NIR) laser energy [ 37 ].…”

NIR and Reduction Dual-Sensitive Polymeric Prodrug Nanoparticles for Bioimaging and Combined Chemo-Phototherapy

“…Thus, combined chemo-phototherapy is a satisfactory approach to circumvent the above problems and achieve effective treatment of cancers. Consequently, various types of nanocarriers, including mesoporous silica nanoparticles [16,17], metal nanoparticles [18][19][20], molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) nanomaterials [21][22][23], polydopamine nanoparticles [24][25][26][27] and selfassembled polymeric nanoparticles [28,29], were used to integrate chemotherapeutic drugs and photosensitizer (PS) or photothermal agents into one multifunctional system for chemophototherapy. Notably, polymeric nanoparticles as delivery systems are very attractive, especially owing to their biodegradability, biocompatibility, versatility and capability of sustained release, which are crucial features for improving the pharmokinetics of guest cargos and minimizing the negative side effects [30].…”