Hyaluronic Acid Modified Halloysite Nanotubes Decorated with ZIF-8 Nanoparticles as Dual Chemo- and Photothermal Anticancer Agents

Chemo/photothermal combination therapy, a practical technology for cancer treatment, has drawn intensive interest from researchers. Designing a nanoplatform with good biocompatibility, photothermal stability, and excellent target specificity is critical for this technique. Here, halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), a kind of natural clay mineral, were employed to construct a multifunctional nanoplatform for treating breast cancer by a promising chemo/photothermal therapy. Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8), a metal–organic framework (MOF) featuring a large specific surface area and porosity, was decorated on the outer layer of HNTs (HNTs@ZIF-8) to enhance drug-loading capacity. Chemotherapy medicine doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) and photosensitizer indocyanine green (ICG) were then encapsulated in HNTs@ZIF-8 to obtain a chemo/photothermal synergistic therapy nanoplatform (HNTs@ZIF-8@DOX@ICG). The nanoplatform was further coated with targeting molecules hyaluronic acid (HA) via coordination interaction. HNTs@ZIF-8@DOX@ICG@HA efficiently induced local overheating to kill cancer cells upon near-infrared (NIR) light exposure and simultaneously showed NIR-triggered DOX release. The nanoplatform exhibited high encapsulation efficiency of drug and superior photothermal capability, effectively inhibiting the growth of CD44-positive MDA-MB-231 cells. This work developed a nanoplatform that combines the advantages of chemo- and photothermal therapies to improve the therapeutic effect of tumors, which shows bright prospects in anticancer therapy.