Molybdenum disulfide-based hyaluronic acid-guided multifunctional theranostic nanoplatform for magnetic resonance imaging and synergetic chemo-photothermal therapy

[Display omitted] The construction of multifunctional theranostic nanoplatforms to integrate accurate imaging and enhanced therapy to treat tumors is highly attractive but remains a challenge. Here, we developed a molybdenum disulfide (MoS2)-based hyaluronic acid (HA)-functionalized nanoplatform capable of achieving the targeted co-delivery of the gadolinium (Gd)-based contrast agents (CAs) and the anticancer drug gefitinib (Gef) for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and synergetic chemo-photothermal therapy of tumors. Gd3+ ions were coupled to HA-grafted MoS2 nanosheets with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) as a linker, followed by the incorporation of Gef. The resulting MoS2-HA-DTPA-Gd/Gef exhibited enhanced relaxivity, 3.3 times greater than that of the commercial CA DTPA-Gd, which facilitated the MRI in vivo. Moreover, the nanoplatform effectively converted the absorbed near-infrared (NIR) light into heat, which not only induced the photothermal ablation of cancer cells but also triggered the release of Gef from MoS2-HA-DTPA-Gd/Gef, enabling the synergetic chemo-photothermal therapy. The results of in vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that MoS2-HA-DTPA-Gd/Gef upon NIR irradiation effectively blocked the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway and activated apoptosis-related proteins to induce cell apoptosis and suppress cell proliferation, thus inhibiting the tumor growth in lung cancer cell-bearing mice. Taken together, this multifunctional theranostic nanoplatform has significant promise for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.