Erythrocyte membrane camouflaged graphene oxide for tumor-targeted photothermal-chemotherapy

Nanodrug carrier-based cancer therapy has been actively developed in the past decades. The main challenges faced by nanodrug carriers include poor drug loading capacity, rapid clearance from blood circulation, and low antitumor efficiency. In this work, a new type of antineoplastic agents, F-RGID, were developed using a two-dimensional graphene oxide (GO) with an incorporated photosensitizer (Indocyanine Green, ICG) and a chemotherapeutic drug (Doxorubicin, DOX) as the internally wrapped nanoparticles, and the RBC membrane (RM) inserted with the targeting molecule (folic acid, F) as a shell. The endogenous nature of RM confers F-RGID excellent biocompatibility and the ability to evade from clearance by the reticuloendothelial system (RES). In addition, F-RGID is decorated with folic acid for selective recognition of tumor cells via a lipid-insertion approach. Another salient feature of the antineoplastic platform is the combination of photothermal-chemotherapy with ICG and DOX. In vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that F-RGID could provide a bionic nanoplatform for tumor-targeted photothermal-chemotherapy in clinic.