Flav7-loaded Silica-based Hybrid Micelles: Synthesis and Photothermal Performance

Recently, organic small molecule photothermal agents have great application potentials in the field of biomedicine due to their high extinction coefficient in the near-infrared region and good structural tunability. Unfortunately, most current organic small molecular photothermal agents prove to be still poor water solubility, unsatisfactory biological stability, and low photothermal conversion efficiency. To address these, a simple method was developed to prepare Flav7-loaded silica-based hybrid micelles (FPOMs) for efficient photothermal therapy. Firstly, the Flav7-loaded micelles were prepared by self-assembly of block copolymer PS132-b-PAA(16). Then, 3-mercaptopropyl trimethoxysilane (MPTMS) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) were introduced to fix the structure and endowed the surface modification of the system, respectively, resulting in the final formation of FPOMs. Results show that FPOMs exhibit excellent photothermal stability and high photothermal conversion efficiency (46.7%) under the excitation of 808 nm laser. Cell experiments indicate that FPOMs have good biocompatibility and photothermal toxicity. It is highly expected to be used as a new type of nano-photothermal agent for efficient and safe photothermal therapy.