Smart Milli-capsules manipulated by nIR irradiation for controllable drug delivery in-vivo for renal cell carcinoma and neurodegenerative diseases

[Display omitted] •nIR lights in vitro and GO-based milli-capsules in vivo have higher matching score to realize desired on/off drug-dosing.•Light powers, GO-concentrations and structural dimensions of photo-triggered switches directly affect the drug release.•Milli-capsules inhibit ccRCC cells proliferation in a GO-concentration-dependent manner by accurate GO-dosing control.•Capsules applications in neurodegeneration was popularized by embed siRNA-drugs which inhibit autophagy in NSC-34 neurons. Cancer and neurodegeneration which are responsible for million deaths worldwide, have urgent requests for drug administration with little to no side-effects. Current designs of drug-delivery, however, are constrained by either treatment effectiveness caused by imprecise control of drug-concentrations, or treatment-related toxicities caused by drugs-themselves or drug-carrier-systems, as well as the safety and feasibility. In this study, on account of the penetration ability through tissues of near-infrared (nIR) lights and the nIR-absorption ability of graphene oxide (GO), the GO-based milli-capsule is constructed, with controlled drug release ability by photomechanical deformation and wireless nIR manipulation. When radiation powers increasing from 0.1 to 0.5 W, drug dosages are in the range of 0 μg (0 drop) to 225 μg (five drops). The cytotoxicity of GO-based capsules in vitro is evaluated by embedded GO as drugs and released GO in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). When the capsules irradiated under 0.5 W and released different amounts of GO-drops in ccRCC, GO-concentrations increase from 0 to 80 μg∙mL−1 and the proportions of apoptotic cells increase 2.85 times, which proves milli-capsules inhibit ccRCC cells proliferation in a GO-concentration-dependent manner by accurate GO-dosing control. Other drugs such as siRNA furnishing an additional practicability-proof for neurodegeneration therapy.