Upconverting Nanoparticles with a Mesoporous TiO2 Shell for Near-Infrared-Triggered Drug Delivery and Synergistic Targeted Cancer Therapy

• Published in: Chemistry : a European journal Vol. 20; no. 43; pp. 14012 - 14017
• Main Authors: Yin, Meili, Ju, Enguo, Chen, Zhaowei, Li, Zhenhua, Ren, Jinsong, Qu, Xiaogang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 20.10.2014; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents - administration & dosage; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Breast cancer; Breast carcinoma; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Cell death; Cell Line, Tumor; Chemistry; Chemotherapy; Cytotoxicity; Drug delivery; Drug Delivery Systems; Drug therapy; Humans; Hyaluronic acid; Infrared Rays; Medical research; mesoporous materials; Mice; Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanoparticles - therapeutic use; Nanoparticles - ultrastructure; Neoplasms - drug therapy; NIH 3T3 Cells; Photochemotherapy; Photodynamic therapy; Photosensitizing Agents - chemistry; Photosensitizing Agents - therapeutic use; Porosity; R&D; Reactive oxygen species; Research & development; synergistic cancer therapy; Targeted cancer therapy; Titanium - chemistry; Titanium - therapeutic use; Titanium dioxide; Toxicity; Tumors; Ultraviolet radiation; nanoparticles; drug delivery; mesoporous materials; cytotoxicity; synergistic cancer therapy
• ISSN: 0947-6539; 1521-3765
• DOI: 10.1002/chem.201403733

Malignant tumors remain a major health burden throughout the world and effective therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Herein, we report the synthesis of upconverting nanoparticles with a mesoporous TiO2 (mTiO2) shell for near‐infrared (NIR)‐triggered drug delivery and synergistic targeted cancer therapy. The NaGdF4:Yb,Tm could convert NIR light to UV light, which activated the mTiO2 to produce reactive oxygen species for photodynamic therapy (PDT). Due to the large surface area and porous structure, the mTiO2 shell endowed the nanoplatform with another functionality of anticancer drug loading for chemotherapy. The hyaluronic acid modified on the surface not only promised controlled drug release but also conferred targeted ability of the system toward cluster determinant 44 overexpressed cancer cells. More importantly, cytotoxicity experiments demonstrated that combined therapy mediated the highest rate of death of breast carcinoma cells compared with that of single chemotherapy or PDT. Better together: Upconverting nanoparticles with a mesoporous TiO2 shell (MTUNs) have been synthesized for light‐triggered drug delivery and synergistic cancer therapy. Cytotoxicity experiments demonstrated that combined therapy mediated the highest rate of death of breast carcinoma cells compared with that of single chemotherapy or photodynamic therapy (see figure; Dox=doxorubicin, HA=hyaluronic acid, Hyal=hyaluronidase).