Light-responsive nanoprobes were suffering from the threat of high-dose laser irradiation, and it was important for constructing new nanoprobes for safe and efficient phototheranostics. Here, polydopamine (PDA)-coated gold nanobipyramids (AuNBPs@PDA) were synthesized for amplified photoacoustic (PA) signal and enhanced photothermal conversion with low-dose laser irradiation and then doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded AuNBPs@PDA-DOX nanoprobes were constructed for PA imaging-guided synergistic photothermal therapy (PTT) and chemotherapy. The AuNBPs@PDA nanoparticles possessed higher photothermal conversion efficiency (42.07%) and stronger PA signal than those of AuNBP nanoparticles, and the AuNBPs@PDA-DOX nanoprobes showed dual-responsive DOX release of pH and photothermal stimulation. With low-dose laser irradiation (1.0 W/cm2) and low-concentration AuNBPs@PDA-DOX (60 μg/mL), the 4T1 cell viability was reduced to about 5%, owing to the combination of PTT and chemotherapy, compared with 42.3% of single chemotherapy and 25.3% of single PTT. Moreover, by modeling 4T1 tumor-bearing nude mice, in vivo PA imaging was achieved and the tumors were completely inhibited, demonstrating the excellent synergistic effect of PTT/chemotherapy. Therefore, the developed AuNBPs@PDA-DOX nanoprobes can be used for phototheranostics and synergistic chemotherapy, achieving low-dose laser irradiation and high-efficient visualized theranostics.
Keywords: gold nanobipyramids; photoacoustic imaging; photothermal therapy; polydopamine; synergistic chemotherapy.