A multifunctional α-Fe2O3@PEDOT core–shell nanoplatform for gene and photothermal combination anticancer therapy

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. B, Materials for biology and medicine Vol. 10; no. 9; pp. 1453 - 1462
• Main Authors: Atheer Hameid Odda, Tuck-Yun Cheang, Alesary, Hasan F, Liu, Lirong, Qian, Xiaojun, Ullah, Naseeb, Wang, Gang, Pan, Yueyin, An-Wu, Xu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Royal Society of Chemistry 02.03.2022
• Subjects: Anticancer properties; Apoptosis; Bcl-2 protein; Biocompatibility; Biomedical materials; Breast cancer; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Cell surface; Ferric oxide; Gene therapy; In vivo methods and tests; Iron oxides; Irradiation; Lasers; Lymphocytes B; Lymphoma; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Photothermal conversion; Polymer coatings; Polymers; siRNA; Tumors
• ISSN: 2050-750X; 2050-7518
• DOI: 10.1039/d1tb02625a

Exploration of versatile nanoplatforms within one single nanostructure for multidisciplinary treatment modalities, especially achieving a synergistic therapeutic efficacy of combinational gene/photothermal cancer therapy is still a great challenge in biomedicine and nanotechnology. In this study, a unique photothermal nanocarrier has successfully been designed and developed for a combination of gene therapy (GT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) of cancer cells. Surface-engineered iron oxides (α-Fe2O3) nanoparticles (NPs) with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) polymer coatings are synthesized using a one-pot in situ oxidative polymerization method. The results show that the as-prepared α-Fe2O3@PEDOT core–shell NPs with a uniform particle size exhibit positively charged surfaces, facilitating efficient siRNA Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma-2) uptake for delivery to breast cancer cells. More importantly, α-Fe2O3@PEDOT core–shell NPs not only display good biocompatibility and water dispersibility but also strong optical absorption enhancement in the Vis-NIR region as compared to α-Fe2O3 NPs. The obtained α-Fe2O3@PEDOT core–shell NPs show an efficient photothermal conversion efficacy (η = 54.3%) and photostability under NIR laser irradiation. As a result, both in vitro and in vivo biological studies on two types of breast cancer cells/tumors treated with α-Fe2O3@PEDOT-siRNA nanocomplexes demonstrate high cancer cell apoptosis and tumor inhibition induced by synergistic GT/PTT therapy under mild conditions compared to an individual GT or PTT alone. Taken together, this is the first example of the use of an α-Fe2O3@PEDOT core–shell nanoagent as a siRNA delivery nanocarrier for highly effective gene/photothermal combination anticancer therapy.