Platelet membrane-modified liquid metal nanoparticles enhanced cellular uptake and tumor photothermal therapy

Liquid metal (LM) nanoparticles have been widely used in photothermal therapy (PTT), but they are susceptible to oxidative inactivation and have poor targeting ability. Platelets (PLT) have many abundant membrane proteins on their surface that can be used to modify LM nanoparticles. Here, a gallium (Ga)-based LM-based nanoparticle delivery system was developed. The conducting polymer polypyrrole (PPy) was first grown in situ on the surface of LM nanoparticles by polymerization (named as LM@PPy). The oxidation resistance and photothermal stability of LM were improved. Subsequently, PLT membrane (PM) was extracted and coated on the surface of LM@PPy to prepare LM@PPy/PM. The antitumor effect of LM@PPy/PM was investigated through in vitro and in vivo experiments. It was demonstrated that the LM@PPy had better photothermal stability and their photothermal conversion efficiency reached 55 ± 2 %, which was higher than that of unmodified LM nanoparticles (31 ± 2 %). Most of the membrane proteins from PLT were retained on the prepared LM@PPy/PM. The PM coating effectively enhanced the tumor-targeting ability of the nanoparticles, leading to better tumor accumulation and antitumor effects in in vitro and in vivo . The findings showed that this nanoparticle delivery system provided a new technological solution to improve the antitumor ability of LM nanoparticles.