Synergistic Chemo–Photothermal Therapy of Breast Cancer by Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Encapsulated Yolk–Shell GNR@HPMO-PTX Nanospheres

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have attracted increasing attention as vehicles for cancer treatment. Herein, MSC-based synergistic oncotherapy strategy is presented for the first time. To achieve this goal, yolk-shell structured gold nanorod embedded hollow periodic mesoporous organosilica nanospheres (GNR@HPMOs) with high paclitaxel (PTX) loading capability and excellent photothermal transfer ability upon near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation are first prepared. Cytotoxicity and migration assays show that the viability and tumor-homing capability of MSCs are well-retained after internalization of high content of PTX loaded GNR@HPMOs (denoted as GNR@HPMOs-PTX). In vitro experiments show the GNR@HPMOs-PTX loaded MSCs (GNR@HPMOs-PTX@MSCs) possess synergistic chemo-photothermal killing effects for breast cancer cells. Also, photoacoustic imaging shows that the MSCs can improve dispersion and distribution in tumor tissue for GNR@HPMOs-PTX after intratumoral injection. In vivo experiments in breast cancer model of nude mice further demonstrate that the GNR@HPMOs-PTX@MSCs significantly inhibit tumor growth, suggesting their great potential for synergistic therapy of cancer.

Mesoporous Silica and Organosilica Nanoparticles: Physical Chemistry, Biosafety, Delivery Strategies, and Biomedical Applications

“…B) TEM micrographs displaying the variety of morphologies and structures of MONs and PMO NPs for biomedical applications. Reproduced with permissions from American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, Elsevier, Springer, and Wiley …”

“…Magnetic core–shell NPs can be applied for hyperthermia and temperature‐triggered cargo release ( B7 , C7 ). Gold core–shell NPs are usually applied for photodynamic therapy and imaging thanks to their plasmonic properties ( F3 , F7 , A8 , B8 , C8 , D8 ). Prussian blue core–shell NPs are widely studied for magnetic resonance and photoacoustic imaging, as well as photothermal therapy ( E3 ).…”

Mesoporous Organosilica Hollow Nanoparticles: Synthesis and Applications

“…In vitro PDT efficacy showed that the viability of human lung cancer cells significantly decreased to 10% after incubating with 0.05 mg mL −1 of the UCNP@HPMOs and exposing to a 980 nm irradiation (0.5 W cm −2 , 10 min) (Figure b). Wu et al prepared gold nanorod‐embedded hollow PMO nanospheres to load PTX (GNR@HPMOs‐PTX) for synergistic photothermal and chemical therapy . The resultant GNR@HPMOs‐PTX showed excellent photothermal transfer ability, which raised the temperature as high as 45.6 and 92.4 °C upon a laser irradiation for 5 min at the concentrations of 100 and 1000 µg mL −1 , respectively.…”

“…c) Photoacoustic imaging of breast cancer in subcutaneous dorsa of the mouse before and after 24 h intratumoral injection of gold nanorod and paclitaxel (PTX) coloaded hollow PMOs (denoted as GNR@HPMOs‐PTX) and GNR@HPMOs‐PTX loaded mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and d) representative photos of MCF‐7 tumor‐bearing mice from MSCs alone, GNR@HPMOs, GNR@HPMOs‐PTX, GNR@HPMOs@MSCs, and GNR@HPMOs‐PTX@MSCs at 14 d after the laser irradiation, respectively. c,d) Reproduced with permission . Copyright 2016, American Chemical Society.…”

A Light‐Triggered Mesenchymal Stem Cell Delivery System for Photoacoustic Imaging and Chemo‐Photothermal Therapy of Triple Negative Breast Cancer

“…Hypoxic‐treated neural stem cells showed the overexpression of CXCR4 and could enhance the tumor migration ability 23. There were numerous studies utilized the homing ability of stem cells for tumor targeting 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. In addition, it has been reported that iron oxide nanoparticles with the released iron ions could increase the CXCR4 expression on the mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) surface and promote the migration ability 29.…”