Nanocomposites with various functions, such as active targeting, controlled drug release and photothermo therapy, have been considered as promising candidates for novel drug delivery systems. Unfortunately, how to efficiently combine these functions in a single nanocarrier for efficient cancer therapy still remains a challenge. Herein, we report on the development of tumor-targeted nanocarriers that combining active targeting of folate, photothermal properties of polydopamine (PDA) and thermo- and pH-responsive properties of poly(<i>N</i>-isopropylacrylamide-<i>co</i>-acrylic acid) (PNA) in a single drug delivery system for cancer therapy to achieve synergistic treatment of chemotherapy and photothermal treatment. The folate introduced by Michael addition reaction can prolong blood circulation time and target cancer cell. The PDA can convert near infrared (NIR) laser into heat, which can be used to induce the decrease in the size of nanocarriers based on the shrinking of the PNA nanogels and thus induce the release of drugs. Our nanocarriers load a chemotherapeutic drug, doxorubicin, with high drug loading through electrostatic interaction, whose release can be triggered by NIR laser. Since the NIR laser can be controlled very precisely and flexibly, the nanocarriers can simultaneously deliver heat and drugs with facile control of the area, time and dosage. Therefore, the proposed drug delivery system provides an ideally versatile platform to achieve multi-stimuli-controlled drug delivery for tumor therapy.

Tumor-targeted responsive nanocarriers for combined photothermo therapy and controlled drug release

2019 Spring National Meeting

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