Porous silica nanocarriers with gold/carbon quantum dots for photo-chemotherapy and cellular imaging

Abstract The integration of multiple treatment methods for improving therapy efficiency has been widely concerned. Herein, porous silica (pSiO2) carriers with center-radial channels were designed and synthesized, then the photosensitizer carbon dots (CDs) and antitumor drug doxorubicin (Dox) were adsorbed into the channels and Au nanoparticles (NPs) were also loaded in the pores of the pSiO2 carriers. Biocompatible hyaluronic acid/alginate/chitosan (HCA) multilayers were coated onto the pSiO2 carriers to seal the loaded-drug pores. The CDs are capable of generating singlet oxygen and multicolor imaging, and Au NPs have good photothermal effect. The obtained CDs/Dox-pSiO2-Au/HCA not only has enhanced synergistic chemotherapy, photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT), but also exhibits pH/redox/enzyme-triggered drug release.