Albumin-bioinspired iridium oxide nanoplatform with high photothermal conversion efficiency for synergistic chemo-photothermal of osteosarcoma

Abstract

Protein-based nanocarriers with inherent biocompatibility have been widely served as building blocks to construct versatile therapeutic nanoplatforms. Herein, bovine serum albumin-iridium oxide nanoparticles (denoted BSA-IrO₂ NPs) are successfully synthesized <i>via</i> one-step biomineralization approach. The BSA-IrO₂ NPs exhibits uniform size (40 nm), superb biocompatibility and high drug loading capacity for doxorubicin (27.4 wt%). Under near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation, the as-prepared BSA-IrO₂ NPs exhibited high photothermal conversion ability (54.3%) and good photostability. The <i>in vitro</i> drug release experiments displayed pH and NIR laser -triggered DOX release profiles, which could enhance the therapeutic anticancer effect. By utilizing this DOX loaded nanoplatform, effective synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy against human osteosarcoma can be realized, which has been systematically verified both <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i>. Notably, <i>in vivo</i> pharmacokinetics studies showed that BSA-IrO₂@DOX had prolonged blood circulation time due to the BSA component can improve the stealthiness of the nanoparticles during the blood circulation. Meanwhile, <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> toxicity studies demonstrated that the BSA-IrO₂ NPs can act as biocompatible agents for drug delivery and cancer therapy. Therefore, this work presents a biomineralized iridium-based NPs with remarkable features and be used as a very potential therapeutic nanoplatform for cancer treatment.