Biodegradable FePS(3) nanoplatform for efficient treatment of osteosarcoma by combination of gene and NIR-II photothermal therapy

As a common tumor with high incidence, osteosarcoma possesses extremely poor prognosis and high mortality. Improving the survival of osteosarcoma patients is still a great challenge due to the precipice of advancement in treatment. In this study, a combination strategy of gene therapy and photothermal therapy (PTT) is developed for efficient treatment of osteosarcoma. Two-dimensional (2D) FePS(3) nanosheets are synthesized and functionalized by poly-L-lysine-PEG-folic acid (PPF) to fabricate a multifunctional nanoplatform (FePS@PPF) for further loading microRNAs inhibitor, miR-19a inhibitor (anti-miR-19a). The photothermal conversion efficiency of FePS@PPF is up to 47.1% under irradiation by 1064 nm laser. In vitro study shows that anti-miR-19a can be efficiently internalized into osteosarcoma cells through the protection and delivery of FePS@PPF nanaocarrier, which induces up-regulation of PTEN protein and down-regulation p-AKT protein. After intravenous injection, the FePS@PPF nanoplatform specifically accumulates to tumor site of osteosarcoma-bearing mice. The in vitro and in vivo investigations reveal that the combined PTT-gene therapy displays most significant tumor ablation compared with monotherapy. More importantly, the good biodegradability promotes FePS@PPF to be cleared from body avoiding potential toxicity of long-term retention. Our work not only develops a combined strategy of NIR-II PTT and gene therapy mediated by anti-miR-19a/FePS@PPF but also provides insights into the design and applications of other nanotherapeutic platforms. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12951-023-01961-9.