Black phosphorus conjugation of chemotherapeutic ginsenoside Rg3: enhancing targeted multimodal nanotheranostics against lung cancer metastasis

It is a significant challenge in lung cancer chemophotothermal (CPT) therapy to develop multifunctional theranostic nanoagent (MTN) for precise targeting and successful tumor treatments, especially for lung metastasis. To overcome this problem, we effectively design and construct multifunctional black phosphorus (BP) nanoagents, BPs/G-Rg3@PLGA. BPs quantum dots (BPsQDs) are co-loaded onto poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) with subsequent conjugations of a cancer therapeutic compound, ginsenoside Rg3 (G-Rg3), in this composite nanoagent. The in vivo delivery findings suggest that BPs/G-Rg3@PLGA has an excellent affinity for primary tumors and metastatic lung tumors. Furthermore, when paired with near-light irradiation, BPs/G-Rg3@PLGA shows superior controllable CPT therapy synergetic therapeutics, significantly increasing photothermal tumor ablation effectiveness. Mechanistically, heating causes rapid G-Rg3 release from the non-complex, and thermal therapy induces apoptosis, culminating in the reduction of lung cancer metastasis. Additionally, in vivo and in vitro findings support the biocompatibility of BPs/G-Rg3@PLGA. This thesis identifies a versatile BPs-based MTN for lung cancer metastasis control.