A hollow-structured nanohybrid: Intelligent and visible drug delivery and photothermal therapy for cancer

It is of great valuable in drug delivery to fabricate multifunctional nanovehicle for cancer therapy. Herein, hollow-structured hCu(2-x)S@Au nanoshell/satellite composite with doxorubicin-carrying was designed and synthesized for intelligent and visible drug delivery and satisfactory photothermal therapy. By modification of disulfide linkage bridged Au nanoshell and multi-carboxylic graphene quantum dots (MC-GODs) on the surface of hCu(2-x)S@Au nanoparticles, both the high concentration of glutathione and low pH in cancer cell/tissue can induce responsive drug release. The satisfactory photothermal conversion efficiency (32%) of hCu(2-x)S@Au@MC-GODs under 808 nm near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation ascribed to the reduced bandgap and more circuit paths for electron transitions for hCuS modified with Au nanoparticles depend on density functional theory, which antitumor therapy efficacy was greatly enhanced by combining chemo- and photothermal therapy. Moreover, the fluorescence of MC-GODs was quenched/turn off as linking to the surface of hCu(2-x)S@Au, and also restored/turn on as the MC-GODs detaching from the surface of hCu(2-x)S@Au. The fluorescent switch of MC-GODs can serve as both a controllable drug release guard and eyes for visualized monitoring. The multimodality therapy with controllable drug delivery, visual monitoring and high photothermal conversion efficiency may be anticipated by this versatile strategy.