Combined Photothermal‐Photodynamic Therapy by Ce6 loaded on MoO2 functional nanoplatform

Abstract

In recent decades, a cocktail of different anticancer therapies has aroused intensive interest of many researchers. Drug delivery systems (DDS) based on nanoplatforms have exhibited great potential in this field. In this work, a novel photothermal DDS was designed with ZrO₂-coated MoO₂, which capped with Bi₂O₃ and modified with AS1411 aptamer. The photosensitizer, chlorin e6 (Ce6), was successfully delivered to the tumor sites by the designed DDS. Bi₂O₃ endows the nanoplatform with the ability of releasing Ce6 rapidly in tumor microenvironment while the AS1411 aptamer can target the nucleolin overexpressed on the tumors. The drug-loaded nanoagent exhibits great photothermal conversion ability, good tumor targeting, and better anti-cancer effects than the individual therapy both in vitro and in vivo. This work explores a new route for photothermal-photodynamic combined therapy and a new treatment modality for tumor ablation.