Biomineralized calcium carbonate nanohybrids for mild photothermal heating-enhanced gene therapy

It is of great significance to develop multifunctional gene carriers to achieve treatments with enhanced therapeutic effects in an inflammation-free manner. In this work, assembled micelles of polysaccharide were utilized for the biomineralization of calcium carbonate to produce one-dimensional Alg-CaCO₃ nanoparticles. In order to introduce both functions of mild hyperthermia and gene transfection, polydopamine (PDA) coating was applied to conjugate cationic polymers on the surface of nanoparticles. The resultant ACDP nanohybrids exhibited enhanced performance as gene carriers under near infrared (NIR) light irradiation at a low power density. Meanwhile, the pH-responsive degradation of gene carriers could further promote gene release for better effectiveness. The enhanced gene therapy induces tumor cell apoptosis, which could prevent inflammatory responses. The feasibility of mild hyperthermia-enhanced gene therapy for tumor treatment was investigated in vitro and in vivo. In addition, dual-modal ultrasound (US) and photoacoustic (PA) imaging was also realized to monitor and guide the treatment processes. The current work provides a new avenue for the construction of multifunctional platform to realize cancer therapy with improved therapeutic effectiveness in an inflammation-free manner.