Dual-responsive molybdenum disulfide/copper sulfide-based delivery systems for enhanced chemo-photothermal therapy.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2)-based drug delivery systems have shown considerable potential in cancer nanomedicines. In this work, a multifunctional nanoplatform comprising MoS2 nanosheets decorated with copper sulfide (CuS) and further functionalized with polyethylene glycol (PEG) is reported. The resultant material has a particle size of approximately 115 nm, and can be loaded with doxorubicin (DOX) to a loading capacity of 162.3 mg DOX per g of carrier. Drug release is triggered by two stimuli (near infrared (NIR) irradiation and pH), and the carrier is shown to have excellent colloidal stability. The presence of both MoS2 and CuS leads to very high photothermal conversion efficiency (higher than with MoS2 alone). In vitro experiments revealed that the blank CuS-MoS2-SH-PEG carrier is biocompatible, but that the synergistic application of chemo-photothermal therapy (in the form of CuS-MoS2-SH-PEG loaded with DOX and NIR irradiation) led to greater cell death than either chemotherapy (CuS-MoS2-SH-PEG(DOX) but no NIR) or photothermal therapy (CuS-MoS2-SH-PEG with NIR). A cellular uptake study demonstrated that the nanoplatform can efficiently enter tumor cells, and that uptake is enhanced when NIR is applied. Overall, the functionalized MoS2 material developed in this work exhibits great potential as an efficient system for dual responsive drug delivery and synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy. The route employed in our work thus provides a strategy to enhance photothermal efficacy for transition metal dichalcogenide drug delivery systems.

Zhang X ，Wu J ，Williams GR ，Yang Y ，Niu S ，Qian Q ，Zhu LM ... -  《-》

A multifunctional nanoplatform based on MoS(2)-nanosheets for targeted drug delivery and chemo-photothermal therapy.

Synergistic tumor treatment has recently attracted more and more attention due to its remarkable therapeutic effect. Herein, a multifunctional drug delivery system based on hyaluronic acid (HA) targeted dual stimulation responsive MoS2 nanosheets (HA-PEI-LA-MoS2-PEG, HPMP) for active interaction with CD44 receptor positive MCF-7 cells is reported. Melanin (Mel), a new type of photothermal agent and doxorubicin (DOX) are both loaded onto the HPMP nanocomposite and can be released by mild acid or hyperthermia. The prepared HPMP nanocomposite has a uniform hydrodynamic diameter (104 nm), a high drug loading (944.3 mg.g-1 HPMP), a remarkable photothermal effect (photothermal conversion efficiency: 55.3%) and excellent biocompatibility. The DOX release from HPMP@(DOX/Mel) can be precisely controlled by the dual stimuli of utilizing the acidic environment in the tumor cells and external laser irradiation. Meanwhile, loading of Mel onto the surface can enhance the photothermal effect of the MoS2 nanosheets. In vitro experiments showed that the HPMP@(DOX/Mel) nanoplatform could efficiently deliver DOX into MCF-7 cells and demonstrated enhanced cytotoxicity compared to that of the non-targeted nanoplatform. In vivo experiments in a breast cancer model of nude mice further confirmed that the HPMP@(DOX/Mel) significantly inhibited tumor growth under near infrared (NIR) laser irradiation, which is superior to any single therapy. In summary, this flexible nanoplatform, based on multi-faceted loaded MoS2 nanosheets, exhibits considerable potential for efficient pH/NIR-responsive targeted drug delivery and chemo-photothermal synergistic tumor therapy.

Yang Y ，Wu J ，Bremner DH ，Niu S ，Li Y ，Zhang X ，Xie X ，Zhu LM ... -  《-》

Functionalized MoS(2)-nanosheets for targeted drug delivery and chemo-photothermal therapy.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been extensively explored for biomedical applications due to its excellent photothermal conversion ability. In this paper, we report a nanoplatform based on folic acid (FA) targeted dual-stimuli responsive MoS2 nanosheets and explore this for the treatment of FA-receptor positive human breast cancer. The nanocomposites generated had a uniform diameter (ca. 133 nm), and could be loaded with the anti-cancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) to a high capacity (151.4 mg/g). The release of DOX was greatly accelerated at pH 5.0 as compared to pH 7.4. In addition, it was found that drug release is enhanced under near infrared laser (NIR) irradiation, showing that the composites can be used as dual responsive systems, with DOX release controllable through pH or NIR irradiation. MTT assays and confocal experiments showed that the MoS2-based nanoplatform could selectively target and kill FA-positive MDA-MB-231 cells (a human breast cancer cell line). The platform also allowed the combination of chemotherapy and photothermal therapy, which led to synergistic effects superior to either monotherapy. The functionalized MoS2 nanoplatform developed in this work hence could be a potent system for targeted drug delivery and synergistic chemo-photothermal cancer therapy.

Zhang X ，Wu J ，Williams GR ，Niu S ，Qian Q ，Zhu LM ... -  《-》

Multifunctional PEG-GO/CuS nanocomposites for near-infrared chemo-photothermal therapy.

The synergistic therapy, the combination of photothermal therapy and chemotherapy, has become a potential treatment in the battles with cancer. Here, we developed a synergistic therapy tool that based on CuS nanoparticles-decorated graphene oxide functionalized with polyethylene glycol (PEG-GO/CuS) for cervical cancer treatment. The as-synthesized PEG-GO/CuS nanocomposites with excellent biocompatibility was revealed to have high storage capacity for anticancer drug of doxorubicin (Dox) and high photothermal conversion efficiency, and were effectively employed for the ablation of tumor. In addition, the therapeutic efficacy of Dox-loaded PEG-GO/CuS (PEG-GO/CuS/Dox) nanocomposites was evaluated in vitro and in vivo for cervical cancer therapy. In vitro cell cytotoxicity tests of PEG-GO/CuS/Dox demonstrate about 1.3 and 2.7-fold toxicity than PEG-GO/CuS and free Dox under 5 min irradiation with NIR laser at 1.0 W/cm(2), owing to both PEG-GO/CuS-mediated photothermal ablation and cytotoxicity of light-triggered Dox release. In mouse models, mouse cervical tumor growth was found to be significantly inhibited by the chemo-photothermal effect of PEG-GO/CuS/Dox nanocomposites, resulting in effective tumor reduction. Overall, compared with chemotherapy or photothermal therapy alone, the combined treatment demonstrates better therapeutic efficacy of cancer in vitro and in vivo. These findings highlight the promise of the highly versatile multifunctional nanoparticles in biomedical application.

Bai J ，Liu Y ，Jiang X 《-》

CuS@mSiO2-PEG core-shell nanoparticles as a NIR light responsive drug delivery nanoplatform for efficient chemo-photothermal therapy.

Liu X ，Ren Q ，Fu F ，Zou R ，Wang Q ，Xin G ，Xiao Z ，Huang X ，Liu Q ，Hu J ... -  《-》