Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs) of a small diameter were loaded with the anticancer drug temozolomide (TMZ), coated with polydopamine (PDA), and conjugated with Asn-Gly-Arg (NGR) for use in the treatment of glioma. The accumulation of NGR-MSNPs in C6 cells was shown to be higher than that of unmodified MSNPs. Anticancer drugs can cause autophagy in tumor cells, whereas autophagy inhibitors can block this reaction and enhance the therapeutic effect of the drugs. In this study, we demonstrated that MSNP-TMZ-PDA-NGR had stronger autophagy- and apoptosis-inducing effects in C6 cells than TMZ alone, and its anticancer effect was further enhanced when combined with autophagy inhibition. These results demonstrate that the combination of targeting vehicles and autophagy inhibitors may have research value in the treatment of gliomas.
In the propagating process along metal surface, surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) mainly decay into thermal loss or release into photons, while a part of them were converted into electrons with high energy termed as hot electrons, which have great significance in photonics and electronics. In this work, the generation of plasmonic hot electrons was ascertained in the nanoparticle-film system through plasmon-driven surface catalysis (PDSC) reactions. The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of p,p'-dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB) catalyzed by 4-nitrobenzenethiol (4NBT) experimentally demonstrated the essential catalysis electrons were generated in this hybrid plasmon mode. The results pointed out the priority of plasmonic hot electron generation in the dimer-film gap compared to the monomer-film gap which was analyzed by the surface electric and charge distribution. Furthermore, the SERS spectra of 4NBT in the metal nanoparticle-dielectric film system confirmed the necessity of hybrid plasmon mode in the generation of plasmonic hot electrons in the nanoparticle-film system. Because of the simple configuration and convenient fabrication of nanoparticle-film system, the work on this hybrid plasmon mode has a significant role in promoting the application of plasmonic hot electrons.