AIE luminogen-functionalised mesoporous silica nanoparticles as nanotheranostic agents for imaging guided synergetic chemo-/photothermal therapy

A multifunctional nanotheranostic system for imaging guided chemo- and photothermal synergistic therapy for cancer has been developed, in which the aggregation-induced emission (AIE) luminogen functionalised mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) act as anticancer drug carriers and biological imaging agents, and CuS nanoparticles attached to the silica nanosphere surface as the photothermal agent. The obtained nanocomposites (denoted as CFMSNs) exhibit a blue emission and have good bio-compatibility, and can be used as an effective luminescent bioprobe for intracellular imaging. Furthermore, the nanoplatform can induce obvious thermal effects after the exposure to an 808 nm laser and serve as an effective pH-dependent NIR-responsive release system. More importantly, the combination of chemotherapy and photothermal therapy shows a better therapeutic effect than the individual therapies, thus demonstrating a synergistic action towards anticancer therapy.