A multifunctional graphene oxide-based nanodrug delivery system for tumor targeted diagnosis and treatment under chemotherapy-photothermal-photodynamic synergy

Abstract

Traditional cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy, often lack specificity, resulting in severe toxic side effects and limited therapeutic efficacy. There is an urgent need to develop innovative multifunctional nanomedicine carriers that integrate precise diagnosis, targeted therapy, real-time monitoring, and the synergistic effects of multiple therapeutic approaches. In this study, a composite nanodrug delivery system (GO-HA-Ce6-GNRs) based on graphene oxide (GO) was innovatively prepared, which was functionalized with the targeting molecule hyaluronic acid (HA), the photosensitizer chlorin e6 (Ce6), and the photothermal material gold nanorods (GNRs). In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that GO-HA-Ce6-GNRs exhibited excellent biocompatibility, remarkable photothermal and photodynamic properties, high drug-loading capacity for the anticancer drug doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX), and a dual pH/near-infrared (NIR) light-responsive drug release profile. Additionally, GO-HA-Ce6-GNRs displayed enhanced tumor targeting and efficient fluorescence imaging capabilities. Notably, GO-HA-Ce6-GNRs@DOX manifested highly effective chemotherapy-photothermal-photodynamic synergistic anti-tumor effects in both MCF-7 and HeLa cancer cells as well as U14 tumor-bearing mice. Therefore, GO-HA-Ce6-GNRs@DOX represents a promising nanoplatform for tumor diagnosis and therapy, significantly improving the safety and efficacy of chemotherapy. This work provides a solid foundation and theoretical basis for the development of new targeted nano drug delivery systems that integrate both diagnosis and treatment.