Synthesis of drug-loaded H-ZIF-8@CaCO3-PEG nanocarrier for synergistic therapy

In this study, we synthesized DOX-loaded H-ZIF-8@CaCO3-PEG nanocarrier, which combined with calcium overload and photothermal therapy (PTT) for synergistic therapy. The nanocarrier comprised a PEG modified calcium carbonate (CaCO3) shell and a hollow imidazolate zeolite skeleton (H-ZIF-8) core, in which the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) and photosensitizer indocyanine green (ICG) were simultaneously co-loaded. In vitro cellular experiments revealed that the lethality of DOX&ICG@H-ZIF-8@CaCO3-PEG against tumor cells was significantly higher than that of the single chemotherapy owing to the combination with chemotherapy and photothermal therapy as well as calcium overloading. This drug-loaded nanocarrier exhibits notable characteristics such as exceptional stability, elevated drug loading capacity and efficient release of the loaded drug, which provides a promising perspective for efficient synergistic therapy.