A Ruthenium Nitrosyl-Functionalized Magnetic Nanoplatform with Near-Infrared Light-Controlled Nitric Oxide Delivery and Photothermal Effect for Enhanced Antitumor and Antibacterial Therapy

Developing a spatiotemporal-controlled nitric oxide (NO) delivery nanoplatform is highly desirable for its biological applications as a tumor inhibitor and antibacterial agent. In this study, a novel multifunctional magnetic nanoplatform {Fe3O4@PDA@Ru-NO@FA} (1) was developed for the near-infrared (NIR) light-controlled release of NO in which a ruthenium nitrosyl (Ru-NO) donor and a folic acid (FA)-directing group were covalently functionalized onto Fe3O4@PDA. Nanoplatform 1 preferentially accumulated in folate receptor-overexpressing cancer cell lines and magnetic field-guided tumor tissue, instantly released NO, and simultaneously produced a prominent photothermal effect upon 808 nm NIR light irradiation, leading to remarkable in vitro and in vivo antitumor efficacy. When nanoplatform 1 was treated only once, the potential MRI contrast agent was sufficient to significantly inhibit or eliminate the tumor tissues in living mice, thus offering opportunities for future NO-involved multimodal cancer therapy....