Dual drug-loaded calabash-like nanomotor as an active therapeutic for enhanced chemo-photothermal therapy of orthotopic glioblastoma

Generally, the key to the treatment of glioblastoma is how to effectively cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and concentrate the drugs in the lesion. To date, the drug delivery of traditional nanosystems depends on passive diffusion, which lacks the forces to overcome bio-barriers and drive nanoparticles deeply into the diseased sites for effective accumulation. Herein, an active delivery strategy using a calabash-like nanomotor is presented. The nanomotor is prepared by the double emulsion technique, a feasible and simple way to simultaneously load two drugs (photothermal agent ICG and chemotherapeutic drug DOX) with biocompatible polymeric scaffolds. Notably, the near-infrared (NIR) power allows both propulsion and photothermal antitumor effects. With moving ability, this nanomotor achieves superior bio-performances including cellular uptake, BBB crossing, tumor penetration and accumulation. Furthermore, the nanomotor shows improved chemo-photothermal antitumor efficacy towards an orthotopic glioblastoma model, providing a new direction for the treatment of intracranial diseases.