Glutamine coated titanium for synergistic sonodynamic and photothermal on tumor therapy upon targeted delivery.

The application of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO NPs) for cancer therapy has been studied for decades; however, the targeted delivery of TiO NPs to tumor tissues is challenging, and its efficiency needs to be improved. In this study, we designed an oxygen-deficient TiO coated with glutamine layer for targeted delivery, as well as the enhanced separation of electrons (e-) and holes (h+) following the joint application of sonodynamic therapy (SDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT). This oxygen-deficient TiO possesses relatively high photothermal and sonodynamic efficiency at the 1064 nm NIR-II bio-window. The GL-dependent design eased the penetration of the TiO into the tumor tissues (approximately three-fold). The and tests showed that the SDT/PTT-based synergistic treatment achieved more optimized therapeutic effects than the sole use of either SDT or PTT. Our study provided a safety targeted delivery strategy, and enhanced the therapeutic efficiency of SDT/PTT synergistic treatment.