Enhanced Photothermal Therapy through the In Situ Activation of a Temperature and Redox Dual‐Sensitive Nanoreservoir of Triptolide

• Published in: Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) Vol. 16; no. 38; pp. e2003398 - n/a
• Main Authors: Liu, Hai‐Jun, Wang, Mingming, Hu, Xiangxiang, Shi, Shanshan, Xu, Peisheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.09.2020
• Subjects: Cancer; Glutathione; gold nanorods; Heat shock proteins; Heat treatment; Infrared lasers; mesoporous silica nanoparticles; Nanorods; Nanotechnology; Photothermal conversion; photothermal therapy; Silicon dioxide; mesoporous silica nanoparticles; cancer; gold nanorods; heat shock proteins; photothermal therapy
• ISSN: 1613-6810; 1613-6829; 1613-6829
• DOI: 10.1002/smll.202003398

Photothermal therapy (PTT) has attracted tremendous attention due to its noninvasiveness and localized treatment advantages. However, heat shock proteins (HSPs) associated self‐preservation mechanisms bestow cancer cells thermoresistance to protect them from the damage of PTT. To minimize the thermoresistance of cancer cells and improve the efficacy of PTT, an integrated on‐demand nanoplatform composed of a photothermal conversion core (gold nanorod, GNR), a cargo of a HSPs inhibitor (triptolide, TPL), a mesoporous silica based nanoreservoir, and a photothermal and redox di‐responsive polymer shell is developed. The nanoplatform can be enriched in the tumor site, and internalized into cancer cells, releasing the encapsulated TPL under the trigger of intracellular elevated glutathione and near‐infrared laser irradiation. Ultimately, the liberated TPL could diminish thermoresistance of cancer cells by antagonizing the PTT induced heat shock response via multiple mechanisms to maximize the PTT effect for cancer treatment. A triptolide nanoreservoir, which can be in situ activated by near‐infrared light (NIR) laser irradiation and intracellular high redox potential, is developed to overcome the thermoresistance of cancer cells. Thanks to the inhibited photothermal therapy (PTT) induced heat shock response, the photothermal therapy efficacy of the gold nanorod/mesoporous nanocomplex is greatly improved.