Targeted Recruitment and Degradation of Estrogen Receptor <i>α</i> by Photothermal Polydopamine Nanoparticles for Breast Tumor Ablation

Abstract

Abstract The major challenges of photothermal therapy (PTT) toward clinical application are the severe skin injury and inflammation response associated with high power laser irradiation. Herein, polydopamine nanoparticles (PDA‐EST and PDA‐RAL) targeted to estrogen receptor α (ER α ) for efficient ablation of breast tumor under a low irradiation density of 0.1 W cm –2 are reported. These nanoparticles are capable of recruiting ER α on their surface and induce a complete ER α degradation via localized heat. Owing to the ER α targetability, PDA‐EST and PDA‐RAL strongly suppress the proliferation of breast cancer cells without causing significant inflammation. This work provides a generalized method for enhancing PTT efficacy under low irradiation density.