Stealth Polymer-Coated Graphene Oxide Decorated Mesoporous Titania Nanoplatforms for In Vivo Chemo-Photodynamic Cancer Therapy

Purpose The goal of this study was to develop chemotherapeutic drug-loaded photoactivable stealth polymer-coated silica based- mesoporous titania nanoplatforms for enhanced antitumor activity. Methods Bothin vitroandin vivomodels of solvothermal treated photoactivable nanoplatforms were evaluated for efficient chemo-photothermal activity. A versatile nanocomposite that combined silica based- mesoporous titania nanocarriers (S-MTN) with the promising photoactivable agent, graphene oxide (G) modified with a stealth polymer (P) was fabricated to deliver chemotherapeutic agent, imatinib (I), (referred as S-MTN@IG-P) for near-infrared (NIR)-triggered drug delivery and enhanced chemo-photothermal therapy. Results The fabricated S-MTN@IG-P nanoplatform showed higher drug loading (similar to 20%) and increased drug release (similar to 60%) in response to light in acidic condition (pH 5.0). As prepared nanoplatform significantly converted NIR light into thermal energy (43.2 degrees C) to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS). The pronounced cytotoxic effect was seen in both colon cancer cells (HCT-116 and HT-29) that was mediated through the chemotherapeutic effect of imatinib and the photothermal and ROS generation effects of graphene oxide.In vivostudy also showed that S-MTN@IG-P could significantly accumulate into the tumor area and suppress the tumor growth under NIR irradiation without any biocompatibility issues. Conclusion Cumulatively, the above results showed promising effects of S-MTN@IG-P for effective chemo-phototherapy of colon cancer.