Abstract
This paper introduces a new fibrous system for synergistic cancer therapy, which consists of gold nanocage (AuNC)-loaded poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) fibers with encapsulation of a chemotherapeutic anticancer drug in their core and loading of a phase-changeable fatty acid in their sheath. Under on–off switching of near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation, the excellent photothermal ability and photostability of AuNCs allows repeated, significant heating of the fibers to a temperature available to hyperthermia. Simultaneously, the NIR light-induced heat generation enables the melting out of the loaded fatty acid, leading to a rapid release of the drug molecules from the fibers. The combination of this NIR light-triggered drug release with the repeated hyperthermia treatment exhibits excellent anticancer efficacy.
Highlights
Over the past several decades, considerable effort has been dedicated to the fabrication of polymeric fibers
To achieve NIR light-induced cancer therapy, a NIR light-sensitive system was made of biocompatible/ biodegradable PCL fibers incorporated with AuNCs
When a very small amount of HAuCl4 solution was added to an aqueous solution of AgNCs, the replacement reaction was activated at a specific site on the surface of each AgNC, generating a hole (Figure 1A)
Summary
Over the past several decades, considerable effort has been dedicated to the fabrication of polymeric fibers. Among many strategies that have been developed for the production of polymeric fibers, electrospinning has been extensively explored due to its merits such as simplicity, high efficiency, low cost, and high reproducibility [3] It allows a variety of functional molecules to be loaded into polymeric fibers [8], which has expanded the applicability of the fibers to the biomedical treatment of diseases through the delivery and even the controlled release of drugs [9]. The use of electrospun polymeric fibers in biomedical application has been directed towards the therapy of cancer, an intractable health issue worldwide Such electrospun fibres possess unique features including high drug loading efficiency, good stability as a bulk material, and ease in temporal release of drugs [10,11,12,13,14]. It is difficult to sufficiently eliminate tumors using drugs only, even though they are useful for treating many types of cancers
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