Hybrid micelles loaded with chemotherapeutic drug-photothermal agent realizing chemo-photothermal synergistic cancer therapy.

The synergistic therapy of malignant tumors with chemotherapy and photothermal therapy has attracted extensive researcher attention. With the further development of photosensitizers, photosensitizer delivery and stability are the urgent problem to be solved at present. In this study, the biodegradable hybrid micelles (HMs) nano system for co-delivery paclitaxel (PTX) and IR825, investigating the photosensitizer stability in the drug delivery system and therapeutic effectiveness in vitro or in vivo. The hybrid micelle (PTX/IR825-TAT HMs) was self-assembled through hydrophobic interactions between polyethyleneimine-polycaprolactone (PEI-PCL) and TAT peptide modifided-1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-(polyethylene glycol) (TAT-PEG-DSPE). The results indicated that TAT HMs could successfully encapsulate IR825 PTX (PTX/IR825-TAT HMs). More importantly, IR825 encapsulated in hybrid micelles improved physiological stability, thermostability and photostability. In addition, the PTX released rapidly from PTX/IR825-TAT HMs in acidic and laser irradiation environments. In vitro cell analysis demonstrated that PTX/IR825-TAT HMs exhibited effective internalization of breast cancer cells. At the same time, PTX/IR825-TAT HMs with laser irradiation synergistically induced cancer cell apoptosis and death. indicating chemo-photothermal therapy synergistic therapeutic effect. In vivo antitumor studies showed that PTX/IR825-TAT HMs precisely reached the tumor tissue and convert light energy into heat energy under laser irradiation, PTX/IR825-TAT HMs had excellent synergistic antitumor efficiency compared to single chemotherapy and photothermal therapy.