Photosensitizer-Functionalized Mn@Co Magnetic Nanoparticles for MRI/NIR-Mediated Photothermal Therapy of Gastric Cancer

In recent years, many cancer treatment strategies, such as photothermal therapy (PTT), have played a crucial role in confronting the major bottleneck of gastric cancer variability and complexity. However, it is still a challenge to effectively prolong the residence time of drugs in the tumor region to achieve a therapeutic effect on gastric cancer. Here, we fabricated innovative, intelligent, multifunctional core@shell magnetic nanoprobes with active targeting and real-time image-guided PTT capabilities. Superparamagnetic Mn@Co magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized using a seed growth strategy. After the process of amphiphilic polymer coating, chemical covalent coupling, and physical loading of drugs, the final PMA/Mn@Co-S-S-BSA@ICG-FA nanoprobes were successfully constructed for MRI/NIR imaging and PTT treatment of MGC-803 tumor-bearing mice in the presence of 808 nm laser irradiation. Benefiting from their good biocompatibility and long-term stability, the synthesized nanoprobes exhibited good tumor-targeting capability and photothermal therapeutic efficacy to inhibit gastric tumor growth in mice under 808 nm laser irradiation. The strategy presented in our study offers controllable delivery and release of distinctly targeted indocyanine green (ICG) and outstanding tumor inhibiting efficacy of PTT, creating a promising avenue for effective cancer treatment.