The unsatisfactory efficacy of conventional theranostic agents in ablating tumor poses urgent demands on the development of high-performance integrated theranostic agents utilizing rising nanotechnology. To cope with the existing limitations, here we presented an intelligent nanoplatform based on yolk-shell Fe3O4@polydopamine prepared by mussel-inspired polydopamine chemistry and sacrificial template method as well as subsequent incorporation of Pt nanoparticles and chlorine 6 (Ce6) by in situ reduction and electrostatic adsorption for photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal (PTT). The resultant nanoplatform could effectively deliver photosensitizer Ce6 to tumor sites, then promoting the decomposition of endogenous H2O2 to oxygen, finally achieving enhanced PDT therapy, which is demonstrated by in vitro and in vivo evaluations. Importantly, the generated oxygen bubbles could improve the echogenicity signal of yolk-shell microspheres and thereby provide enhanced ultrasonic (US) signal for imaging solid tumors. Overall, the synergistic combination of magnetic Fe3O4, green polydopamine, catalytic Pt nanoparticles, photosensitive Ce6 enabled the hybrid nanoplatform to have good biocompatibility, efficient tumor accumulation, excellent phototherapy efficiency, high T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fluorescence imaging ability (FL). Our study integrating the merits of PDT/PTT and US/MRI/FL into a single nanoplatform will open an avenue of therapeutic strategy toward biomedical applications.
Keywords: Multi-modality imaging; Photodynamic therapy; Photothermal therapy; Yolk-shell nanoplatform.
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