Design and fabrication of cascade novel Fenton catalytic nanocomposite as theranostic agent for chemodynamic/photothermal synergistic tumor therapy

Abstract

A graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and manganese dioxide (MnO2) co-decorated, polydopamine (PDA) capped iron oxyhydroxide (FeOOH) nanorod was firstly constructed as a promising platform for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) guided tumor synergistic therapy. Each component played an irreplaceable role. Tumor microenvironment activated cascade Fenton catalytic activities and MRI capability at different stages were obtained, which can simultaneously realize diagnosis and chemodynamic therapy (CDT) for cancer. In addition, photothermal therapy (PTT) was also achieved owing to the excellent photothermal conversion efficiency of PDA and GQDs, which further improve the Fenton catalytic activities and realized synergistic therapy for cancer. The experimental results showed that only about 30% of cancer cells was killed when CDT or NIR laser alone for cancer inhibition. However, when PTT and CDT were employed simultaneously to treat the cancer cells, the therapeutic efficiency has increased by 300% (90% of cancer cells was killed and about 10% cancer cells survived) due to combinatorial effect of PTT and CDT. Obviously, a more effective treatment of cancer could be realized using MRI guided tumor synergistic therapy with the as-prepared nanocomposites. This study provides a proof of concept of design and construction of complex nanomaterials for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords

• Nanocomposites
• Catalytic
• Graphene quantum dots
• Magnetic resonance imaging
• Synergistic therapy