Mussel-Inspired Ligand Clicking and Ion Coordination on 2D Black Phosphorus for Cancer Multimodal Imaging and Therapy

As a promising 2D nanocarrier, the biggest challenge of bare black phosphorus nanosheets (BP NSs) lies in the inherent instability, while it can be improved by surface modification strategies to a great extent. Considering the existing infirm BP NSs surface modification strategies, A mussels-inspired strong adhesive biomimetic peptide with azide groups for surface modification to increase the stability of BP NSs is synthesized. The azide groups on the peptide can quickly and precisely bind to the targeting ligand through click chemistry, solving the problem of nonspecificity of secondary modification of other mussel-mimicking materials. Besides, a catechol-Gd3+ coordination network is further constructed for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and inducing intracellular endo/lysosome escape. The fabricated BP-DOX@Gd/(DOPA)(4)-PEG-TL nanoplatform exhibits enhanced antitumor abilities through synergetic chemo/photothermal effects both in vitro and in vivo.

Automated summary

In this study, surface modification strategies were used to improve the inherent instability of bare black phosphorus nanosheets (BP NSs). A biomimetic peptide with azide groups was synthesized for surface modification to increase the stability of BP NSs. Additionally, a coordination network was constructed for magnetic resonance imaging and inducing intracellular escape. The fabricated nanoplatform exhibited enhanced antitumor abilities through synergistic chemo/photothermal effects in vitro and in vivo.