Dual gatekeepers-modified mesoporous organic silica nanoparticles for synergistic photothermal-chemotherapy of breast cancer

An optimized formulation, DOX@(MONs-Azo3)@PDA resulted in approximately 1.5 and 2.4 fold lower IC50 values than DOX@(MONs-Azo3) and (MONs-Azo3)@PDA controls in MCF-7 cells, respectively, and further mediated complete tumor eradication in 4T1 tumor-bearing BALB/c mice with insignificant systematic toxicity due to the synergistic PTT and chemotherapy with enhanced therapeutic efficiency.