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In this study, a multimodal therapeutic system was shown to be much more lethal in cancer cell killing compared to a single means of nano therapy, be it photothermal or photodynamic. Hollow magnetic nanospheres (HMNSs) were designed and synthesized for the synergistic effects of both magneto-mechanical and photothermal cancer therapy. By these combined stimuli, the cancer cells were structurally and physically destroyed with the morphological characteristics distinctively different from those by other therapeutics. HMNSs were also coated with the silica shells and conjugated with carboxylated graphene quantum dots (GQDs) as a core-shell composite: HMNS/SiO2/GQDs. The composite was further loaded with an anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) and stabilized with liposomes. The multimodal system was able to kill cancer cells with four different therapeutic mechanisms in a synergetic and multilateral fashion, namely, the magnetic field-mediated mechanical stimulation, photothermal damage, photodynamic toxicity, and chemotherapy. The unique nanocomposites with combined mechanical, chemo, and physical effects will provide an alternative strategy for highly improved cancer therapy efficiency.

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Gold nanostructures have generated significant attention in biomedical areas because of their major role in cancer photothermal therapeutics. In order to conveniently combine gold nanostructures and drugs into one nanocomposite, Au2Se/Au core-shell nanostructures with strong near-infrared-absorbing properties were synthesized using a simple method and embedded inside bovine serum albumin (BSA) nanospheres by using a spray dryer equipped with an ultrasonic atomizer followed by thermal denaturation. The nanospheres with narrow size distribution mainly ranging from 450 to 600 nm were obtained. The Au2Se/Au-loaded BSA nanospheres (1 mg) adsorbed at least 0.01 mg of water-insoluble zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) photosensitizer. After irradiation with a 655-nm laser (20 min), the temperature of the Au2Se/Au-loaded BSA nanospheres [200 μL, 2 mg/mL, BSA/Au2Se/Au 10:1 (w/w)] increased by over 20 °C from the initial temperature of 24.82 ± 0.15 °C, and the release of ZnPc was improved compared with a corresponding sample without irradiation. After being incubated with cancer cells (human esophageal carcinoma Eca-109), the nanospheres exhibited photothermal and photodynamic therapy with a synergistic effect upon laser irradiation. This work provides novel Au2Se/Au-loaded polymer nanospheres prepared by a high-efficiency strategy for incorporating drugs for improving the efficiency in killing cancer cells.

Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is a reliable predictor of lymph node status in staging solid cancers and it is generating a great deal of enthusiasm among clinicians. Herein, methylene blue (MB) was encapsulated within a microemulsion nanosystem. Its nearinfrared (NIR) fluorescence was used for mouse SLN imaging and mapping. The results show an obvious improvement in the NIR fluorescence of the MB aqueous solution after the MB was encapsulated into the microemulsion. When a mouse was intradermally injected with the microemulsion-encapsulated MB (ME-MB) into the paw, its axillary SLN rapidly emitted brighter fluorescence than that of the SLN of a mouse intradermally injected with the MB aqueous solution only. Furthermore, the retention time of the fluorescent signal emitted from the SLN mapped with the ME-MB was longer than that of the fluorescent signal emitted from the SLN mapped with the MB aqueous solution only. This was due to the microemulsion being a lymphatic targeting nanosystem, and the ME-MB having brighter fluorescence, thereby giving the operator enough time to identify and ensure complete resection of the SLN. SLN mapping with the NIR fluorescence of ME-MB nanosystem is a simple, intuitive and highly efficient technique compared to traditional methods.Keywords: Methylene blue, microemulsion nanosystem, sentinel lymph node, in vivo imaging and mapping.