A phototheranostic nanoparticle for cancer therapy fabricated by BODIPY and graphene to realize photo-chemo synergistic therapy and fluorescence/photothermal imaging

Phototheranostic agents are capable of both therapeutic and diagnostic potential, making them a promising strategy for cancer therapy. BODIPY is an outstanding photosensitizer for Photodynamic Therapy (PDT). Here we engineered a BODIPY-based phototheranostic nanoparticle with photo-chemo synergistic property and the nanoparticle MMC-Graphene@BODIPY-mPEG (MGBP) possesses excellent ROS production ability, high photothermal conversion efficiency (48%), and excellent therapy efficiency (HeLa cell viability was down to 17% after treatment) in vitro. Furthermore, because of its high fluorescence and anti-photobleaching ability of BODIPY and photothermal conversion ability of Graphene, MGBP showed superior fluorescence and photothermal imaging ability in the agar model. In summary, MGBP possessed the excellent potential for tumour tissue imaging-guided photo-chemo synergistic therapy.