Ball-milling fabrication of BiAgOS nanoparticles for 808 nm light mediated photodynamic/photothermal treatment

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) combined treatment guided by imaging diagnosis has brought the cancer treatment into a new stage. But simple nanoplatforms with multifunctional therapeutic performance are rarely designed. Herein, we adopt ball-milling method to fabricate spherical BiAgOS nano particles as photosensitizer to apply for 808 nm near-infrared (NIR) light triggered PDT and PTT co-therapy. The polyethylene glycol (PEG) modified BiAgOS NPs show a great absorption in the range of visible light to near infrared region. Under 808 nm laser irradiation, BiAgOS-PEG NPs have obvious photothermal and photosensitive effects together with excellent X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging function. The in vitro and in vivo experiments exhibit that the BiAgOS-PEG NPs have good biocompatibility, excellent tumor cells inhibition effects simultaneously. Our finding described the first use of BiAgOS-PEG NPs as a semiconductor photosensitizer for anti-cancer treatment, providing a promising strategy to fabricate this kind of material for imaging guided NIR light induced combined tumor treatment.

Automated summary

The study fabricated spherical BiAgOS nano particles using ball-milling method as a photosensitizer for both PDT and PTT therapy, showing excellent biocompatibility and tumor cell inhibition effects in vitro and in vivo experiments. The results provide a promising strategy to develop similar materials for imaging-guided tumor treatment with NIR light.