NIR-Absorbing Dye Functionalized Supramolecular Vesicles\nfor Chemo-photothermal Synergistic Therapy

Abstract

Developing\nmultifunctional supramolecular nanoplatforms for effective\ntumor therapy is a challenging task. In this contribution, a NIR-absorbing\nperylene diimide dye <b>G</b> has been prepared, which not only\nacted as a photothermal agent, but also served as a guest. Multifunctional\nsupramolecular vesicles were efficiently constructed by the recognition\nof dye <b>G</b> and water-soluble pillar[5]­arene, which showed\nhigh-loading capacity for hydrophobic chemotherapy drug doxorubicin.\nWhat’s more, the resulting drug-loaded vesicles had high stability\nin simulated normal physiological condition but showed rapid drug\nrelease in the acidic microenvironment. Additionally, the drug-loaded\nvesicles exhibited more remarkable antitumor efficacy than chemotherapy\nor photothermal treatment alone through chemo-photothermal synergistic\ntherapy. Furthermore, such supramolecular drug nanocarriers could\nefficiently get inside the tumor cells mainly via endocytosis to obtain\nexcellent accumulation of drug in tumor sites. Overall, this study\noffers an innovative tactic to fabricate smart nanocarriers for synergistic\ntherapy of cancer.