A photoresponsive and rod-shape nanocarrier: Single wavelength of light triggered photothermal and photodynamic therapy based on AuNRs-capped & Ce6-doped mesoporous silica nanorods

Rod-shape nanocarriers have attracted great interest because of their better cell internalization capacity and higher drug loading properties. Besides, the combination of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) holds great promise to overcome respective limitations of the anti-cancer treatment. In this work, we first report Au nanorods-capped and Ce6-doped mesoporous silica nanorods (AuNRs-Ce6-MSNRs) for the single wavelength of near infrared (NIR) light triggered combined phototherapy. AuNRs-Ce6-MSNRs are not only able to generate hyperthermia to perform PTT effect based on the AuNRs, but also can produce singlet oxygen (1O2) for PDT effect based on Ce6 after uncapping of AuNRs under the single NIR wavelength irradiation. In addition, the combined therapy can be dual-imaging guided by taking the photoacoustic (PA) and NIR fluorescence (NIRF) imaging of AuNRs and Ce6, respectively. What's more, by utilizing the special structure of MSNRs, this nanocarrier can serve as a drug delivery platform with high drug loading capacity and enhanced cellular uptake efficiency. The multi-functional nanocomposite is designed to integrate photothermal and photodynamic therapy, in vivo dual-imaging into one system, achieving synergistic anti-tumor effects both in vitro and in vivo.