Targeting mesoporous silica-encapsulated gold nanorods for chemo-photothermal therapy with near-infrared radiation

Mesoporous silica-encapsulated gold nanorods ([email protected]2) have great potential both in photothermal therapy and drug delivery. In this paper, we firstly developed [email protected]2 as a synergistic therapy tool for delivery heat and drug to the tumorigenic region. We studied the ablation of tumor both in vitro and in vivo by the combination of photothermal therapy and chemotherapy using doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded [email protected]2. Significantly greater cell killing was observed when A549 cells incubated with DOX-loaded [email protected]2 were irradiated with near-infrared (NIR) illumination, attributable to both [email protected]2-mediated photothermal ablation and cytotoxicity of light-triggered DOX release. We then performed in vivo therapy studies and observed a promising tumor treatment. Compared with chemotherapy or photothermal treatment alone, the combined treatment showed a synergistic effect, resulting in higher therapeutic efficacy. Furthermore, the lower systematic toxicity of [email protected]2 has been validated.