Construction and application of a liver cancer-targeting drug delivery system based on core–shell gold nanocages

Background In order to achieve drug targeting and controlled release, we have successfully developed a novel drug release system DOX/AuNCs-PM-HA with gold nanocages (AuNCs) as photothermal cores, thermally responsive copolymer P(NIPAM-co-Am) (PM) as the near-infrared (NIR) stimuli gatekeeper and hyaluronic acid as a targeting ligand as well as a capping agent. Methods Cell uptake and cell viability were investigated. In vivo photoacoustic tomography imaging in H22 tumor bearing mice was analyzed for the tumor targeting effect of the nanocomplexes. Antitumor efficacy and the tissue distribution in vivo were investigated. Results In vitro results demonstrated that the DOX/AuNCs-PM-HA had significant anticancer activity against SMMC-7721 cells under NIR irradiation. Furthermore, in vivo photoacoustic tomography imaging of the nanocomplexes in H22 tumor bearing mice could indicate effective tumor targeting. Our studies on antitumor efficacy and the tissue distribution in vivo showed that many DOX/AuNCs-PM-HA nanocomplexes could efficiently accumulate at the tumor site so that they could inhibit the tumor growth effectively with limited side effects. The in vitro and in vivo results confirmed that the tumor-targeting and controlled-release drug system DOX/AuNCs-PM-HA with the combination of chemotherapy and photothermal therapy showed strong anti-tumor effect and would have great potential for future cancer therapy. Conclusion This tumor targeting DOX/AuNCs-PM-HA nanocomplex responded not only to the external stimuli of NIR, but also the internal stimuli of hyaluronidase, providing the potential for pinpointed and multi-stimuli responsive intracellular drug release.