Ultra-efficient MCF-7 cell ablation and chemotherapy-integrated electrothermal therapy with DOX–WS2–PEG–M13 nanostructures

Abstract Clinical trials have generated encouraging outcomes for the utility of thermal agents (TAs) in cancer thermal therapy (TT). Although the fast breakdown of TAs alleviates safety concerns, it restricts the thermal stability necessary for effective treatment. TAs with excellent thermal stability, on the other hand, deteriorate slowly. Rare are the approaches that address the trade-off between high thermal stability and quick deterioration of TAs. Here we control the thermal signature of WS2-type 2D materials by utilizing previously undescribed DOX–WS2–PEG–M13 nanostructures (we term them D nanostructures) through Joule heating phenomena, and develop an integrated system for TT for enhancing thermal performance, and simultaneously, maintaining rapid degradation, and chemotherapy for efficacious treatment. A relative cell viability of ~ 50% was achieved by the D-based TT (DTT) configuration, as well as a 1 nM drug concentration. The D-driven chemotherapy (DCT) model also attains a relative cell viability of 80% for 1 nM drug concentration, while a 1-week degradation time was revealed by the D nanostructure. Theoretical studies elucidate the drug molecule–nanostructure and drug-on-nanostructure–solution interaction-facilitated enhancement in drug loading and drug release performance in DCT varieties. As a result, this work not only proposes a “ideal TA” that circumvents TA restrictions, but also enables proof-of-concept application of WS2-based materials in chemotherapy-unified combination cancer therapy. Graphical Abstrac

An Efficient, Short Stimulus PANC-1 Cancer Cell Ablation and Electrothermal Therapy Driven by Hydrophobic Interactions

Promising results in clinical studies have been demonstrated by the utilization of electrothermal agents (ETAs) in cancer therapy. However, a difficulty arises from the balance between facilitating the degradation of ETAs, and at the same time, increasing the electrothermal performance/stability required for highly efficient treatment. In this study, we controlled the thermal signature of the MoS2 by harnessing MoS2 nanostructures with M13 phage (MNM) via the structural assembling (hydrophobic interaction) phenomena and developed a combined PANC-1 cancer cell–MNM alternating current (AC)-stimulus framework for cancer cell ablation and electrothermal therapy. A percentage decrease in the cell viability of ~23% was achieved, as well as a degradation time of 2 weeks; a stimulus length of 100 μs was also achieved. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations revealed the assembling kinetics in integrated M13 phage–cancer cell protein systems and the structural origin of the hydrophobic interaction-enabled increase in thermal conduction. This study not only introduced an ‘ideal’ agent that avoided the limitations of ETAs but also provided a proof-of-concept application of MoS2-based materials in efficacious cancer therapy