Engineering Bipedal Janus Nanocarriers: Dual-Targeting and pH/Microwave-Responsive Drug Delivery System for Cancer Therapy

The development of intelligent platforms capable of precisely targeting cancer cells while minimizing toxic side effects on normal tissues remains a significant challenge in medical applications. This study proposes a structurally innovative bipedal Janus nanocarrier (Fe 3 O 4 @TiO 2 &dmSiO 2 /FA) for intelligent drug delivery. The architecture integrates magnetic-responsive and microwave (MW)-responsive Fe 3 O 4 @TiO 2 (core@shell) components with anisotropic growth bipedal mesoporous silica (dmSiO 2 ), the latter being modified with folic acid (FA) targeting ligands. This design achieves dual-mode tumor targeting by concurrently enabling FA-mediated active recognition and magnetic field-guided navigation. The system demonstrates drug release behavior orchestrated through the synergistic interplay between endogenous tumor microenvironmental stimuli (pH 5.3) and exogenous MW irradiation. MTT assays revealed that doxorubicin-loaded nanocarriers exhibit significant cytotoxicity under MW exposure, achieving over 80% proliferation inhibition in multiple cancer cell lines. These results position this nanocarrier as a promising candidate for effective cancer therapy.