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Abstract Elaborate design of multifunctional Janus nanoparticles (JNPs) with asymmetric compositions and independent functions has drawn extensive attention in biological fields. Here, a mild synthesis strategy is first explored for… Click to show full abstract
Abstract Elaborate design of multifunctional Janus nanoparticles (JNPs) with asymmetric compositions and independent functions has drawn extensive attention in biological fields. Here, a mild synthesis strategy is first explored for the preparation of spherical zeolitic imidazolate framework-8/polydopamine JNPs with hollow structure (H-ZIF-8/PDA JNPs). The resultant H-ZIF-8/PDA JNPs are further selectively functionalized on PDA sides with heptakis-(6-mercapto-6-deoxy)-β-cyclodextrin (CDs) to gain the capability of loading hydrophobic drug (H-ZIF-8/PDA-CD JNPs). Meanwhile, the ZIF-8 domains with hollow cavities can serve as reservoirs for loading hydrophilic drug molecules. Moreover, the pH-sensitive ZIF-8 and the strong near-infrared (NIR) absorption of PDA make the H-ZIF-8/PDA JNPs possess the conversion capacity from laser energy to heat and pH/NIR dual-responsive drug release behaviors. Besides, the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), hemolysis and histological assays manifest the excellent biocompatibility of H-ZIF-8/PDA-CD JNPs. The therapeutic results in vitro and in vivo both reveal that the hydrophobic/hydrophilic drugs co-loaded H-ZIF-8/PDA-CD JNPs irradiated by 808 nm laser groups show the best therapeutic efficiency. Taken together, the H-ZIF-8/PDA-CD JNPs are capable of serving as promising platform for cancer treatment through collaborative photothermal and dual-drug chemical therapy.