Osteotropic peptide-mediated bone targeting for photothermal treatment of bone tumors

The treatment of bone tumors is a challenging problem due to the inefficient delivery of therapeutics to bone and the bone microenvironment-associated tumor resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy. Here, we developed a bone-targeted nanoparticle, aspartate octapeptide-modified dendritic platinum-copper alloy nanoparticle (Asp-DPCN), for photothermal therapy (PTT) of bone tumors. Asp-DPCN showed much higher affinity toward hydroxyapatite and bone fragments than the non-targeted DPCN in vitro. Furthermore, Asp-DPCN accumulated more efficiently around bone tumors in vivo, and resulted in a higher temperature in bone tumors during PTT. Finally, Asp-DPCN-mediated PTT not only efficiently depressed the tumor growth but also significantly reduced the osteoclastic bone destruction. Our study developed a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of bone tumors.