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. 2021 Nov 18;13(11):1951. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13111951

Table 4.

Codelivery of photosensitizers and photothermal agents based on nanocarriers.

Nanoparticle Photosensitizers Photothermal Agents Tumor Data Sources Findings Ref
Boron dipyrromethene conjugated hyaluronic acid polymer NPs (BODIPY-HA NPs) Boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) Boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) 4T1 In vitro

  • BODIPY showed only PTT activity due to P-P stacking after self-assembly to form NPs.

  • BODIPY-HA NPs were decomposed into BODIPY-HA molecules, restoring PDT activity and producing ROS after internalization by tumor cells.

 [154] 2021
1,2-Distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[carboxy(polyethylene
glycol)-2000]-coated nanographene oxide-copper sulfide NPs (pGO-CuS NPs)		 GO, CuS Indocyanine green (ICG), CuS MCF-7 In vitro

  • Photosensitizer-assembled NPs improved the drug loading efficiency and stability.

 [155] 2015
Polypyrrole NPs Phycocyanin (Pc) Phycocyanin (Pc) MDA-MB-231 In vitro

  • Pc produced PDT and PTT activity under 600 nm and 900 nm laser activation, respectively.

  • It had good synergistic antitumor effects and cell imaging ability of PDT and PTT.

 [156] 2017
Indocyanine green-coated single-walled carbon nanohorn NPs (SWNH-ICGs) Indocyanine green (ICG) Indocyanine green (ICG) 4T1 In vitro, Animals

  • The stability of ICG was improved, and ICG was protected from photodegradation.

  • Under 808 nm laser irradiation, local hyperthermia and a large number of ROS were produced simultaneously, effectively inhibiting the growth of 4T1 tumors.

 [157] 2018
Iridium oxide-manganese dioxide mineralized Chlorin e6 conjugated bovine serum albumin NPs (BSA-Ce6@IrO2/MnO2) Chlorin e6 (Ce6) Iridium oxide (IrO2) MDA-MB-231, 4T1, PC3 In vitro, Animals

  • IrO2 and MnO2 decomposed endogenous H2O2 to alleviate tumor hypoxia and improve PDT.

  • IrO2 presented excellent photothermal conversion efficiency (65.3%) and high X-ray absorption coefficient, enabling NPs to be used in computer CT and PA imaging.

 [158] 2020
Lipid-purpurin 18 and pure lipid self-assembled NPs (Pp18-lipos) Lipid-purpurin 18 (Pp18-lipids) Lipid-purpurin 18 (Pp18-lipids) 4T1 In vitro, Animals

  • The Pp18-lipos with 2 mol% Pp18-lipids can perform PDT while with 65mol% can perform potent PTT.

  • PTT/PDT synergistically inhibited tumor growth and enhanced tumor T cell immune response.

 [159] 2020
Folic acid-polyethylene glycol-coated black phosphorus nanosheets conjugated with copper sulfide (BP-CuS-FA) Black phosphorus (BP) Copper sulfide (CuS), Black phosphorus (BP) 4T1 In vitro, Animals

  • FA could target tumor cells with FA receptor overexpression and enhance drug aggregation at tumor site.

  • BP nanosheets could be degraded by ROS through oxidation processes to reduce toxic and side effects.

  • BP-CuS-FA simultaneously mediated synergically enhanced the PDT-PTT antitumor effect and photoacoustic imaging.

 [160] 2020
Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) NPs IR780 iodide Perfluorocarbon (PFC) 4T1 In vitro, Animals

  • PFC could be used as an artificial blood substitute to effectively increase hypoxia in the tumor microenvironment and enhance PTT and PDT.

  • IR780 could simultaneously act as a PS and mediate mitochondrial targeting, disrupt the balance of mitochondrial ROS and induce irreversible apoptosis of tumor cells.

 [161] 2020
Amino-modified nanomaterial based on MoS2 quantum-dot-doped disulfide-based SiO2 NPs coated with hyaluronic acid and chlorin e6 (MoS2@ss- SiO2-Ce6/HA) Chlorin e6 (Ce6) MoS2 quantum dots 4T1 In vitro, Animals

  • Effectively prolonged the blood circulation time of MoS2 quantum dots and increased the uptake of tumor cells.

  • It could also be used for fluorescence/CT/MSOT image-guided PDT and PTT combination therapy.

 [162] 2019
Isoindigo/triphenylamine donor-acceptor-donor conjugated small molecule NPs (IID-ThTPA NPs) IID-ThTPA IID-ThTPA 4T1 In vitro, Animals

  • The photothermal conversion efficiency reached 35.4%, and the singlet oxygen yield was 84%.

  • The ultrahigh singlet oxygen quantum yield of IID-ThTPA NPs originated from the narrow singlet–triplet energy gap of IID-ThTPA.

 [163] 2020
MoSe2/Bi2Se3 nanoheterostructure MoSe2/Bi2Se3 MoSe2/Bi2Se3 HepG2 In vitro, Animals

  • ROS generation was promoted through photoinduced effective separation of electron-hole pairs.

  • The photothermal conversion efficiency was increased to 59.3% by the nanoheterostructure.

  • Displayed acid/photothermal sensitive drug release behavior.

 [164] 2019
Polyethylene glycolated triphenylphosphine modified hitosan/iron oxide NPs (PEG-CS/Fe2O3 NPs) Methylene blue (MB) Iron oxide HeLa, A549, MCF-7 In vitro, Animals

  • Improved the aggregation in the tumor site, reduce the toxic and side effects on normal tissues.

  • Under low-power near-infrared light, NPs produced singlet oxygen, which can damage tumor cells.

 [165] 2020
Indocyanine green-grafted gold nanobipyramids covalently conjugated with folic acid (AuBPs@FLA@ICG@FA NPs) Indocyanine green (ICG) Gold nanobipyramids (AuBPs) B16-F10 In vitro

  • Enhanced the overall PTT-PDT efficiency by increasing the temperature by 2 °C and doubling 1O2 species generation.

 [166] 2020
Pardaxin peptide-modified, indocyanine green-conjugated hollow gold nanospheres (FAL-ICG-HAuNS) Indocyanine green (ICG) Gold nanospheres CT26 In vitro, Animals

  • FAL modification imparted endoplasmic reticulum targeting capability to NPs

  • NIR irradiation induced strong ER stress and calcium reticulin (CRT) exposure, facilitating ICD-mediated immunotherapy.

  • The antigen presentation function of dendritic cells was enhanced, and CD8+T cell proliferation and secretion of cytotoxic factors were activated.

 [139] 2019
Gd3+ and chlorin e6 loaded single-walled carbon nanohorns (Gd-Ce6@SWNHs) Chlorin e6 (Ce6) Gd3+ 4T1 In vitro, Animals

  • NPs could migrate from targeted tumors to tumors-draining lymph nodes, continuously activating DCs, and ultimately eliminating metastases.

 [167] 2020