GQDs/hMSN nanoplatform: Singlet oxygen generation for photodynamic therapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has received extensive attention in tumor treatment due to its advantages in overcoming drug resistance for chemotherapy. In this work, we prepared a nanoplatform generated from graphene quantum dots capped in hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (GQDs/hMSN). The singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ) generation efficiency and photodynamic therapy effect of GQDs/hMSN were studied in vitro and in vivo . GQDs/hMSN had good 1 O 2 generation yield in water. Based on the findings from cellular experiments, we concluded that doxorubicin (DOX) loaded GQDs/hMSN (GQDs/hMSN(DOX)) had synergistic chemo-photodynamic therapeutic effect. From in vivo therapy on HeLa tumor-bearing mice, GQDs/hMSN exhibited significant accumulation in the tumor site, where DOX was also released from the nanoplatform due to the unique tumor microenvironment . This work further confirmed the usefulness of GQDs/hMSN nanoplatform as a potentially useful vector for combinational therapy of cancer.