Delivery of Platinum(IV) Prodrugs via Bi₂Te₃ Nanoparticles for Photothermal–Chemotherapy and Photothermal/Photoacoustic Imaging

Abstract

Combinational administration of photothermal therapy (PTT) and chemotherapy (CT) shows great potential in improving the efficiency of tumor treatment. Herein, we designed a novel nanocomposite Pt@Bi₂Te₃ composed of bismuth telluride (Bi₂Te₃) nanoparticles and platinum(IV) prodrugs (Pt) for PTT-CT combination therapy. The obtained Bi₂Te₃ was synthesized by a simple solvothermal method and modified by polyethylene glycol, which exhibited excellent photothermal (PT) efficiency and stability and could also serve as a bimodal bioimaging contrast agent in PT and photoacoustic (PA) imaging. <i>In vitro</i> experiment results showed that the nanocomposite Pt@Bi₂Te₃ could effectively increase the uptake of platinum in cancer cells, which could kill tumor cells through the combined effect of PTT and CT. Furthermore, combination therapy of cancer <i>in vivo</i> was achieved with obvious tumor-growth inhibition without inducing observed side effects. We revealed the great potential of Bi₂Te₃ nanocomposites in increasing therapeutic efficiency by PTT-CT therapy and PA-PT imaging.