Construction of A Triple-Stimuli-Responsive System Based on Cerium Oxide Coated Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles

In this work, a triple-stimuli (GSH, pH and light irradiation) responsive system were designed based on CeO₂ nanoparticles (CeO₂ NPs) coated doxorubicin (DOX) and photosensitizer hematoporphyrin (HP) dual-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN). Upon entering into cancer cells, both high concentration of intracellular GSH and low pH environment would reduce CeO₂ NPs to cerium ions, accompanied with the degradation of CeO₂ NPs and the conformational change of HP under light irradiation, the preloaded DOX are thus released from the nanocarrier, resulting in a contrast fluorescence enhancement. Meanwhile, ¹O₂ generated from HP for potential photodynamic therapy (PDT) upon light irradiation. In comparison, not much influence can be observed for normal cells. This nanosystem not only has a significantly enhanced efficacy for cancer cells but also broad the scope for the future design and applications of multifunctional platforms for synergetic chemotherapy and PDT.