Mild thermotherapy and hyperbaric oxygen enhance sensitivity of TMZ/PSi nanoparticles via decreasing the stemness in glioma

BACKGROUND: Glioma is a common brain tumor with a high mortality rate. A small population of cells expressing stem-like cell markers in glioma contributes to drug resistance and tumor recurrence. METHODS: Porous silicon nanoparticles (PSi NPs) as photothermal therapy (PTT) agents loaded with TMZ (TMZ/PSi NPs), was combined with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy in vitro and in vivo. To further investigate underlying mechanism, we detected the expression of stem-like cell markers and hypoxia related molecules in vitro and in vivo after treatment of TMZ/PSi NPs in combination with PTT and HBO. RESULTS: NCH-421K and C6 cells were more sensitive to the combination treatment. Moreover, the expression of stem-like cell markers and hypoxia related molecules were decreased after combination treatment. The in vivo results were in line with in vitro. The combination treatment presents significant antitumor effects in mice bearing C6 tumor compared with the treatment of TMZ, PTT or TMZ/PSi NPs only. CONCLUSION: These results suggested the TMZ/PSi NPs combined with HBO and PTT could be a potential therapeutic strategy for glioma. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12951-019-0483-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.