Fucoidan-based dual-targeting mesoporous polydopamine for enhanced MRI-guided chemo-photothermal therapy of HCC via P-selectin-mediated drug delivery

The development of novel theranostic agents with outstanding diagnostic and therapeutic performances is still strongly desired in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, a fucoidan-modified mesoporous polydopamine nanoparticle dual-loaded with gadolinium iron and doxorubicin (FMPDA/Gd(3+)/DOX) was prepared as an effective theranostic agent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided chemo-photothermal therapy of HCC. It was found that FMPDA/Gd(3+)/DOX had a high photothermal conversion efficiency of 33.4% and excellent T(1)−MRI performance with a longitudinal relaxivity (r(1)) value of 14.966 mM(−1)·s (−) (1). Moreover, the results suggested that FMPDA/Gd(3+)/DOX could effectively accumulate into the tumor foci by dual-targeting the tumor-infiltrated platelets and HCC cells, which resulted from the specific interaction between fucoidan and overexpressed p-selectin receptors. The excellent tumor-homing ability and MRI-guided chemo-photothermal therapy therefore endowed FMPDA/Gd(3+)/DOX with a strongest ability to inhibit tumor growth than the respective single treatment modality. Overall, our study demonstrated that FMPDA/Gd(3+)/DOX could be applied as a potential nanoplatform for safe and effective cancer theranostics