Super-assembled core-shell mesoporous silica-metal-phenolic network nanoparticles for combinatorial photothermal therapy and chemotherapy

Multimodal combinatorial therapy merges different modes of therapies in one platform, which can overcome several clinical challenges such as premature drug loss during blood circulation and significantly improve treatment efficiency. Here we report a combinatorial therapy nanoplatform that enables dual photothermal therapy and pH-stimulus-responsive chemotherapy. By super-assembly of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) with metal-phenolic networks (MPN), anti-cancer drugs can be loaded in the MSN matrix, while the outer MPN coating allows dual photothermal and pH-responsive properties. Upon near-infrared light irradiation, the MSN@MPN nanoplatform exhibits excellent photothermal effect, and demonstrates outstanding pH-triggered drug release property. In vitro cell experiments suggest the MSN@MPN system exhibits superior biocompatibility and can effectively kill tumor cells after loading anti-cancer drugs. Consequently, the MSN@MPN system shows promising prospects in clinical application for tumor therapy.