Co-delivery of hydrophilic/hydrophobic drugs by multifunctional yolk-shell nanoparticles for hepatocellular carcinoma theranostics

Co-delivery of hydrophilic/hydrophobic drugs in separate rooms and bimodal triggered drugs release from independent channels without mutual effect, coupled with multi-mode imaging are vitally significative for overcoming drug resistance and enhancing the therapeutic effects. Herein, we report the polydopamine@up-conversion nanoparticle@mesoporous silica yolk-shell nanoparticles (PDA@UCNP@mSiO(2) NPs) to simultaneously load the hydrophilic doxorubicin (DOX) and hydrophobic hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT) in their distinct domains for combinational chemotherapy. The oleic acid-coated UCNPs attaching onto the surface of polydopamine (PDA) exhibited the multi-mode upconversion luminescence (UCL)/computed tomography (CT)/magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and the hydrophobic environment held great ability for storage of the hydrophobic HCPT. While the mSiO(2) shell was used for loading the hydrophilic DOX and ensuring the good water dispersibility of the NPs. Additionally, the NPs with near-infrared (NIR) excitation possessed an efficient photothermal efficiency of 31.1% achieving through the PDA. In a word, the resulted NPs were successfully employed for multi-mode imaging-guided synergistic dual drug chemo-photothermal therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma.