A multi-functional nanoplatform for efficacy tumor theranostic applications

Nanomaterials with multiple functions have become more and more popular in the domain of cancer research. MoS(2) has a great potential in photothermal therapy, X-ray/CT imaging and drug delivery. In this study, a water soluble MoS(2) nanosystem (MoS(2)-PEG) was synthesized and explored in drug delivery, photothermal therapy (PTT) and X-ray imaging. Doxorubicin (DOX) was loaded onto MoS(2)-PEG with a high drug loading efficiency (~69%) and obtained a multifunctional drug delivery system (MoS(2)-PEG/DOX). As the drug delivery, MoS(2)-PEG/DOX could efficiently cross the cell membranes, and escape from the endosome via NIR light irradiation, lead to more apoptosis in MCF-7 cells, and afford higher antitumor efficacy without obvious toxic effects to normal organs owing to its prolonged blood circulation and 11.6-fold higher DTX uptake of tumor than DOX. Besides, MoS(2)-PEG/DOX not only served as a drug delivery system, but also as a powerful PTT agent for thermal ablation of tumor and a strong X-ray contrast agent for tumor diagnosis. In the in vitro and in vivo studies, MoS(2)-PEG/DOX exhibited excellent tumor-targeting efficacy, outstanding synergistic anti-cancer effect of photothermal and chemotherapy and X-ray imaging property, demonstrating that MoS(2)-PEG/DOX had a great potential for simultaneous diagnosis and photothermal-chemotherapy in cancer treatment.