Rationally Designed Calcium Phosphate/Small Gold Nanorod Assemblies Using Poly(acrylic acid calcium salt) Nanospheres as Templates for Chemo-photothermal Combined Cancer Therapy

Elaborately designed novel multifunctional therapeutic agents are highly desired for efficient cancer therapy. In this work, a new therapeutic nanoplatform based on calcium phosphate/small gold nanorod assemblies modified with methoxy-poly­(ethylene glycol)-thiol (designated as PEGylated CaP/Au NR assemblies) is created via a mild, reproducible, and simple route for the first time. The obtained PEGylated CaP/Au NR assemblies possess many virtues including outstanding drug-loading capacity, excellent photothermal conversion efficiency (η, ∼38.5%), pH/near-infrared (NIR) dual-responsive release property, and good biocompatibility. After loading doxorubicin (DOX) in PEGylated CaP/Au NR assemblies, the DOX-loaded PEGylated CaP/Au NR assemblies can simultaneously supply intense heating effect and increased DOX release under 808 nm NIR laser, achieving excellent antitumor therapeutic effect in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the combination of DOX-loading and photothermal treatment upon PEGylated CaP/Au NR assemblies displays better therapeutic effect than single chemotherapy or photothermal therapy. Furthermore, the comprehensive methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT), hemolysis, and histological assays manifest no obvious toxicity of PEGylated CaP/Au NR assemblies. Our work elucidates the great prospect of PEGylated CaP/Au NR assemblies as a therapeutic agent for synergistic chemo-photothermal cancer therapy

Selective Growth Synthesis of Ternary Janus Nanoparticles for Imaging-Guided Synergistic Chemo- and Photothermal Therapy in the Second NIR Window

Multifunctional therapeutic agents in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window have attracted wide attention on account of their synergetic properties for effective cancer therapy. Here, we construct a selective growth strategy for the first time to fabricate ternary Janus nanoparticles (JNPs) containing hemispherical MnO₂ at one side and Au core covered with CuS shell at opposite side. The obtained ternary JNPs are further modified with poly­(ethylene glycol)­thiol to enhance the stability and biocompatibility (designated as PEG–CuS–Au–MnO₂ ternary JNPs). The MnO₂ domain with mesoporous structures can serve as hydrophobic drug carriers and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging contrast agents. Meanwhile, the Au segment is used for X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging. Moreover, the PEG–CuS–Au–MnO₂ ternary JNPs can conduct hyperthermia at 1064 nm in NIR-II window to ablate tumors in deep tissue, which is ascribed to the localized surface plasmon resonance coupling effect of the Au core and CuS domain. All of the results reveal that PEG–CuS–Au–MnO₂ ternary JNPs not only exhibit pre-eminent CT/MR imaging capabilities, but also provide high chemo-photothermal antitumor efficacy under the guidance of CT/MR imaging. Taking together, the PEG–CuS–Au–MnO₂ ternary JNPs can be regarded as a prospective therapeutic nanoplatform for dual-modal imaging-guided synergistic chemo-photothermal cancer therapy in the NIR-II window

Erythrocyte-Like Mesoporous PDA@CeO₂ Nanozyme with Dual Drugs for Periodontitis Treatment

Periodontitis is a chronic oral inflammatory disease with the characteristic of excess oxidative stress in the inflammatory site, dramatically decreasing the quality of life. Studies show that nanozymes can be ideal candidates for ROS scavenging in periodontitis. Here, we design a multipath anti-inflammatory mesoporous polydopamine@cerium oxide nanobowl (mPDA@CeO2 NB) with multienzyme mimicking properties, which combines the advantages of both CeO2 NP and mPDA NB for synergistically eliminating reactive oxygen species (ROS), including hydroxyl radical (•OH), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and superoxide (O2•–). Besides, the erythrocyte-like structure of mNBs makes them a facility for cell uptake, and the mesopores can load both hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs for combined anti-inflammatory therapy. In vitro and in vivo experiments prove that the combination of CeO2 and mPDA can synergistically achieve multiple complementary ROS eliminations and suppression of ROS-induced inflammation. Moreover, the ROS regulation plus anti-inflammatory drugs in one mPDA@CeO2 NB prevents the progression of periodontitis in a mouse model. Therefore, the design of mPDA@CeO2 NB with these excellent properties provides a therapeutic strategy for inflammatory diseases

Spadix-Bract Structured Nanobowls for Bimodal Imaging-Guided Multidrug Chemo-Photothermal Synergistic Therapy

Multifunctional nanoparticles (NPs) simultaneously having functions of multimodal therapy and imaging are highly needed in biomedical applications. A unique monstera flower-like gold nanorod/polydopamine bowl (GNR/PDA bowl) with spadix-bract nanostructure was fabricated by a novel and facile approach. The possible formation mechanism of the GNR/PDA bowl spadix-bract NPs was proposed by monitoring the synthetic process. The obtained monstera flower-like GNR/PDA bowl spadix-bract NPs were further selectively functionalized with 1-dodecanethiol (DT) on GNR domains (spadix) to achieve efficient hydrophobic drug delivery capability; meanwhile, the PDA bowl (bract) can load the hydrophilic anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX). The resultant monstera flower-like DT-GNR/PDA bowl spadix-bract NPs possess an excellent biocompatibility, high dual-drug-loading contents, excellent photothermal conversion efficiency, strong near-infrared (NIR) absorbance, effective attenuation of X-rays, and pH/NIR dual-responsive properties, which enable the NPs to be applied for synergistic bimodal computed tomography/photoacoustic (CT/PA) imaging-guided multidrug chemotherapy and photothermal therapy (PTT). Moreover, the synthetic approach could be extended to prepare Au/PDA bowl NPs and Fe₂O₃/PDA bowl NPs, which may greatly expand the application of the PDA-based bowl NPs