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Photo-induced cancer therapies, mainly including photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT), have attracted numerous attentions owing to the high selectivity, convenience, and few side effects. However, single PTT usually requires high laser power density, and single PDT usually needs a high photosensitizer dosage. Herein, a kind of composite nanocarrier based on clay (laponite)–polypyrrole (LP) nanodisks was synthesized via the in situ polymerization of pyrrole in the interlayer space of laponite. LP composite nanodisks were then coated with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) to form the LP–PVP (LPP) composite nanodisks which show an excellent colloidal stability and in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility. The interlayer space of LPP can be further used for the loading of Chlorin e6 (Ce6), with an ultrahigh loading capacity of about 89.2%. Furthermore, the LPP nanocarrier can enhance the PDT effect of Ce6 under the irradiation of a 660 nm laser, through enhancing its solubility and cellular uptake amount. Besides, it was found that LPP nanodisks exhibit a more outstanding photothermal performance under a 980 nm near-infrared laser (NIR) than a 808 nm NIR laser, with the photothermal conversion efficiency of 45.7 and 27.7%, respectively. The in vitro and in vivo tumor therapy results evidently confirm that the Ce6-loaded LPP nanodisks have a combined tumor PTT and PDT effect, which can significantly suppress the tumor malignant proliferation.

No abstract

Owing to the hypoxia status of the tumor, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production during photodynamic therapy (PDT) of the tumor is less efficient. Herein, a facile method which involves the synthesis of Mg–Mn–Al layered double hydroxides (LDH) clay with MoS2 doping in the surface and anionic layer space of LDH was presented, to integrate the photo-thermal effect of MoS2 and imaging and catalytic functions of Mg–Mn–Al LDH. The designed LDH-MoS2 (LMM) clay composite was further surface-coated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) to maintain the colloidal stability of LMM in physiological environment. A photosensitizer, chlorin e6 (Ce6), was absorbed at the surface and anionic layer space of LMM@BSA. In the LMM formulation, the magnetic resonance imaging of Mg–Mn–Al LDH was enhanced thanks to the reduced and acid microenvironment of the tumor. Notably, the ROS production and PDT efficiency of Ce6 were significantly improved, because LMM@BSA could catalyze the decomposing of the overexpressed H2O2 in tumors to produce oxygen. The biocompatible LMM@BSA that played the synergism with tumor microenvironment is a promising candidate for the effective treatment of cancer.