Multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles for simultaneous cancer near-infrared imaging and targeting photodynamic therapy

Cancer theranostics, the ability to simultaneously diagnose and treat cancer, has become one of the major driving forces in nanobiotechnology. In the present work, a multifunctional system, methylene blue-incorporated folate-functionalized Fe3O4/mesoporous silica core-shell magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), for simultaneous near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging and targeting photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been developed. The core Fe3O4 MNPs offers the function of magnetically guided drug delivery, the mesoporous silica shell acts as an efficient drug loaded carrier, the photosensitizer methylene blue (MB) exhibits excellent NIR fluorescence imaging and PDT efficiency, and the folic acid (FA) can effectively enhance the delivery of MB to the targeting cancer cells, which overexpress the folate receptor. The results indicated that the multifunctional system could effectively be used in NIR fluorescence imaging. Moreover, it exhibited a synergistic effect of magnetic targeted PDT of cancer under NIR laser irradiation. Thus, the multifunctional system is promising for simultaneous cancer diagnosis and therapy.