Mitochondrial Targeting Strategy for Enhanced Photothermal Cancer Therapy

Graphical CaCO 3 -encapsulated Bi 2 S 3 nanorods targeted to mitochondria are reported for efficient photothermal cancer therapy. Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a light-triggered therapeutic method showing great promise in cancer treatment. For safe and effective PTT, minimal invasion and high specificity are needed. Mitochondria have been recognized as an attractive target to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of cancer treatment. Here, we present a unique type of CaCO 3 -encapsulated Bi 2 S 3 nanorods (Bi 2 S 3 @CaCO 3 NRs) for improving PTT therapeutic efficacy based on a novel mitochondria-targeted strategy. Such NRs with Bi 2 S 3 NRs as the photothermal agent, carboxylated short-chain PEG as bridging group and CaCO 3 as pH responsive surface coating showed not only remarkable promotion of cancer uptake efficiency, but also enhanced mitochondria targeting ability. The significant improvement of phototherapeutic efficacy of Bi 2 S 3 @CaCO 3 suggests that our mitochondria-targeting strategy is a reliable and useful method for efficient cancer therapy.