Facile synthesis of novel albumin-functionalized flower-like MoS2 nanoparticles for in vitro chemo-photothermal synergistic therapy

Synergistic therapy, the combination of photothermal therapy and chemotherapy, has been becoming an attractive strategy to circumvent certain drawbacks in current cancer chemotherapy. Herein, a synergistic therapeutic nanoplatform based on novel albumin functionalized flower-like MoS2 spherical nanoparticles was reported. The MoS2 nanoparticles were prepared by using hydrazine hydrate as both reductive agent and structure-directing agent via a facile hydrothermal procedure. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was subsequently modified onto the surface of MoS2 (MoS2@BSA) to improve the physiological stability and biocompatibility of nanoparticles. The results indicated that the prepared MoS2@BSA hybrid nanoparticles not only possess high photothermal conversion efficiency and physiological stability, but also the ability to effectively load and intelligently release the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX). The in vitro cytotoxicity of MoS2@BSA was tested with murine breast cancer cells (4T1), revealing the excellent biocompatibility of hybrid nanoparticles. Furthermore, the negligible hemolytic activity and efficient cellular uptake of MoS2@BSA was also testified. More importantly, the combination of DOX loading and photothermal treatment with MoS2@BSA in the form of MoS2@BSA-DOX displayed better therapeutic efficacy than single photothermal therapy or chemotherapy. Thus, our results demonstrated that the novel combined therapeutic nanoplatform based on the flower-like MoS2 hybrid nanoparticles could be an attractive candidate for cancer treatments.