Mesoporous polydopamine delivery system for intelligent drug release and photothermal-enhanced chemodynamic therapy using MnO(2) as gatekeeper

The non-specific leakage of drugs from nanocarriers seriously weakened the safety and efficacy of chemotherapy, and it was very critical of constructing tumor microenvironment (TME)-responsive delivery nanocarriers, achieving the modulation release of drugs. Herein, using manganese dioxide (MnO(2)) as gatekeeper, an intelligent nanoplatform based on mesoporous polydopamine (MPDA) was developed to deliver doxorubicin (DOX), by which the DOX release was precisely controlled, and simultaneously the photothermal therapy (PTT) and chemodynamic therapy (CDT) were realized. In normal physiological environment, the stable MnO(2) shell effectively avoided the leakage of DOX. However, in TME, the overexpressed glutathione (GSH) degraded MnO(2) shell, which caused the DOX release. Moreover, the photothermal effect of MPDA and the Fenton-like reaction of the generated Mn(2+) further accelerated the cell death. Thus, the developed MPDA-DOX@MnO(2) nanoplatform can intelligently modulate the release of DOX, and the combined CDT/PTT/chemotherapy possessed high-safety and high-efficacy against tumors.