Abstract
Due to the inherent limitations, single chemo or photothermal therapies (PTT) are always inefficient. The combination of chemotherapy and PTT for the treatment of cancers has attracted a great interest during the past few years. As a photothermal agent, black phosphorus quantum dots (BPQDs) possess an excellent extinction coefficient, high photothermal conversion efficacy, and good biocompatibility. Herein, we developed a photo-and pH-sensitive nanoparticle based on BPQDs for targeted chemo-photothermal therapy. Doxorubicin (DOX) was employed as a model drug. This nanosystem displayed outstanding photothermal performance both in vitro and in vivo. Folic acid conjugation onto the surface endowed this system an excellent tumor-targeting effect, which was demonstrated by the cellular targeting assay. The BPQDs-based drug delivery system exhibited pH-and photo-responsive release properties, which could reduce the potential damage to normal cells. The in vitro cell viability study showed a synergistic effect in suppressing cancer cell proliferation. Therefore, this BPQDs-based drug delivery system has substantial potential for future clinical applications.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 242 |
Journal | Pharmaceutics |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 1 2019 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Black phosphorus
- Cancer targeted therapy
- Drug delivery
- Photothermal therapy
- Quantum dots
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pharmaceutical Science