Janus Au–mesoporous silica nanocarriers for chemo-photothermal treatment of liver cancer cells

Abstract

The combination of chemotherapy and photothermotherapy is emerging as a promising strategy for the treatment of liver cancer as a result of its synergistic efficacy. A safe and efficient drug-delivery system is highly desirable to ensure that the anticancer drug and photothermal agent can be simultaneously delivered to a tumor region to exert their synergistic effect with reduced side-effects. Uniform Janus Au–mesoporous silica nanoparticles with superior surface plasmon resonance properties and a high surface area were designed to integrate a high drug-loading capacity, pH-responsive properties, and a superior photothermal effect into a single carrier. The ability of the Janus nanoparticles loaded with doxorubicin to combine local specific chemotherapy with external near-infrared photothermotherapy significantly improved the therapeutic efficacy against liver cancer cells while exerting less toxicity on normal liver cells. Hence the reported doxorubicin-loaded Janus NPs may be promising therapeutic agents for efficacious and safe treatment of liver cancer.