Imaging-guided photoacoustic drug release and synergistic chemo-photoacoustic therapy with paclitaxel-containing nanoparticles

Here, a novel triggered drug release modality was developed for oncotherapy. Paclitaxel (PTX), perfluorohexane (PFH) and gold nanorods (AuNRs) loaded nanoparticles (PTX-PAnP) were synthesized. Folic acid (FA) conjugated PTX-PAnP (PTX-PAnP-FA) could be selectively taken into folate receptor-overexpressed tumor cells. Upon pulsed laser irradiation, the PTX-PAnP-FA could be rapidly destructed because of the PFH vaporization, resulting in fast drug release, which induced apoptosis of cancer cells efficiently. Stimulated fragmentation of the PTX-PAnP-FA nanoparticles can facilitate multiple mechanisms such as bubble implosion, shockwave generation, and sonoporation that further enhance the therapeutic efficiency. The in vivo therapy study further confirmed this new approach resulted in efficient tumor suppression. The results demonstrate a unique drug release mechanism based on photoacoustic effect. It provides an all-in-one platform for photoacoustic image-guided drug release and synergistic chemo-photoacoustic therapy.