Lecithin sensitized thermo-sensitive niosome using NIR-carbon dots for breast cancer combined chemo-photothermal therapy

[Display omitted] •A novel thermo-sensitive niosomes (TS-Nio) with lower toxicity compared to conventional niosomes was synthesized using Lecithin (as an available and cost effective phospholipid) and nonionic surfactants.•NIR-CQDs as non-toxic nanomaterials were synthesized and applied as photothermal agent and acceptable photothermal effect and stability were obtained.•The chemotherapy and photothermal therapy were combined and very good results were obtained on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. In this work, a new class of thermo-sensitive niosome (TS-Nio) was synthesized using lecithin and NIR-carbon dots, for combined chemo-photothermal therapy. TS-Nio (200 nm) and noisome (240 nm) were synthesized using thin layer method and were stable for 14 days in water, buffer, and cellular environment. CQDs with a hydrodynamic diameter of 2.0 ± 0.5 nm (during 14 days) were synthesized by the hydrothermal method, and their photothermal, and quantum efficiency were 24.3% and 67%, respectively. Synthesized CQDs had repeating maximum temperature of 55 ± 0.2 °C in four 10-min irradiation cycles (LASER 808 nm) and photothermal therapy effect of 40%, 46%, 44%, and 48% for MCF-10A, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, SKBR-3 cells, respectively. Drug and CQDs were loaded in the niosomes, and the release difference between normal and cancer cell conditions were 55% and 21% for TS-Nio and niosome, respectively. The drug release kinetic model was Komsmeyer & Peppas. Chemotherapy on MCF-7 cancer cells using Dox-loaded niosomes showed the maximum toxicity of 46% and 37% for TS-Nio and niosome, respectively. The chemophotothermal therapy on MCF-10A, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, SKBR-3 cells using drug and CQDs loaded niosomes with 10 min laser irradiation were 40%, 88%, 89%, 15% for TS-Nio, and 17%, 61%, 67%, 29% for niosome respectively. The results showed perfect targeting and effective chemophotothermal therapy of TS-Nio on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines.