An NIR-responsive mesoporous silica nanosystem for synergetic photothermal-immunoenhancement therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma

To create a more precise, efficient imaging and therapeutic strategy is a big challenge for the current treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Photothermal therapy (PTT) has attracted enormous attention due to its non-invasive property and precise spatial and temporal control. Here, we developed a strategy to realize superior imaging performance and treatment, utilizing an indocyanine green (ICG) and sorafenib (S) co-loaded mesoporous silica nanosystem for synergetic PTT/immuno-enhanced therapy. We proved that (ICG+S)@mSiO(2) could be easily endocytosed by H22 cells, carried out outstanding real-time fluorescence imaging, and enhanced cytotoxicity abilities by near-infrared radiation (NIR) in vitro. Moreover, (ICG+S)@mSiO(2) also had excellent fluorescence imaging ability, displayed a remarkable photothermal tumor killing effect and immune enhancement capability under 808 nm irradiation in an H22 tumor-bearing mice model, without apparent adverse effects in other organs. This study provides a new strategy for the development of a PTT/immuno-enhanced synergistic theranostic nanosystem of HCC.