Paclitaxel-Induced Ultrasmall Gallic Acid-Fe@BSA Self-Assembly with Enhanced MRI Performance and Tumor Accumulation for Cancer Theranostics

Ultrasmall nanoparticles have attracted great attention because of their efficient renal clearance. However, their bioapplication is still severely hampered by the poor performance derived from low tumor accumulation. Here, a large, self-assembled nanoparticle was designed for cancer theranostics and used with paclitaxel (PTX) to assemble bovine serum albumin-coated ultrasmall gallic acid-Fe(III) (GA-Fe@BSA-PTX) nanoparticles by the hydrophobic effect. The GA-Fe@BSA-PTX self-assembled nanoparticles featured appropriate size (∼115 nm), high water dispersity and stability, and low cell toxicity. Importantly, the magnetic resonance imaging performance and tumor accumulation of GA-Fe@BSA-PTX self-assembled nanoparticles were much better than those of the ultrasmall GA-Fe@BSA nanoparticles. Furthermore, the GA-Fe@BSA-PTX self-assembled nanoparticles exhibited an excellent therapeutic effect on tumors, owing to the combined chemo- and photothermal effects. This work highlights the great potential of the as-synthesized GA-Fe@BSA-PTX self-assembled nanoparticles as a multifunctional theranostic nanoplatform, offering compelling opportunities for theranostic applications in the clinic.