Ce6/Mn2+-chelated polydopamine@black-TiO2 nanoprobes for enhanced synergistic phototherapy and magnetic resonance imaging in 4T1 breast cancer

Abstract

Black titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles have attracted great attention due to their application in photothermal therapy (PTT). However, single-mode phototherapy has the risk of recurrence, and the high-dose laser usually imposed to improve the PTT performance can bring a potential threat to security. Here, polydopamine (PDA)-coated black TiO₂ (b-P25@PDA) nanoparticles with a core–shell structure were synthesized for enhanced PTT; then, synergistic phototherapy nanoprobes (b-P25@PDA-Ce6 (Mn)) were constructed by coupling chlorin e6 (Ce6) and chelating Mn²⁺ for simultaneous photodynamic therapy (PDT)/PTT and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, in which a low-dose laser was used and imaging-guided phototherapy with high efficiency and high safety was achieved. The prepared nanoprobes showed high photothermal conversion efficiency (32.12%), high reactive oxygen generation and excellent MR imaging. In the 4T1 tumor-bearing nude mouse model, the tumors completely disappeared under the combination of PDT/PTT with a low-dose laser but were only partially inhibited by single PDT and single PTT. The current work developed a multifunctional black TiO₂-based nanoprobe for enhanced synergistic PDT/PTT and MR imaging, which will be important for the safe and efficient visualized theranostics of cancers.