Synergistic photothermal-photodynamic-chemotherapy toward breast cancer based on a liposome-coated core–shell AuNS@NMOFs nanocomposite encapsulated with gambogic acid
Rong-Tian Li, Yi‐Dan Zhu, Wenya Li, Ying-Ke Hou, Yi‐Ming Zou, Yinghua Zhao, Quan Zou, Wen‐Hua Zhang, Jin-Xiang Chen
Abstract
Abstract A multifunctional nanoplatform with core–shell structure was constructed in one-pot for the synergistic photothermal, photodynamic, and chemotherapy against breast cancer. In the presence of gambogic acid (GA) as the heat-shock protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitor and the gold nanostars (AuNS) as the photothermal reagent, the assembly of Zr 4+ with tetrakis (4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin (TCPP) gave rise to the nanocomposite AuNS@ZrTCPP-GA ( AZG ), which in turn, further coated with PEGylated liposome (LP) to enhance the stability and biocompatibility, and consequently the antitumor effect of the particle. Upon cellular uptake, the nanoscale metal − organic framework (NMOF) of ZrTCPP in the resulted AuNS@ZrTCPP-GA@LP ( AZGL ) could be slowly degraded in the weak acidic tumor microenvironment to release AuNS, Zr 4+ , TCPP, and GA to exert the synergistic treatment of tumors via the combination of AuNS-mediated mild photothermal therapy (PTT) and TCPP-mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT). The introduction of GA serves to reduce the thermal resistance of the cell to re-sensitize PTT and the constructed nanoplatform demonstrated remarkable anti-tumor activity in vitro and in vivo. Our work highlights a facile strategy to prepare a pH-dissociable nanoplatform for the effective synergistic treatment of breast cancer. Graphical Abstract