Abstract
This report focuses on the in vitro and in vivo anti-cancer effects evaluation of targeting and photothermal sensitive solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) for the co-loading of docetaxel (DTX), oxidized single-walled carbon nanotubes (OSWNT) and folic acid (FA). Compared with free DTX, FA-DTX-OSWNT-SLN could efficiently cross cell membranes and afford higher antitumor efficacy on the human hepatic carcinoma cell line (SMMC-7721) in vitro. Annexin V-FITC/PI double staining further confirmed that FA-DTX-OSWNT-SLN induced higher apoptotic rates on SMMC-7721 cells. Meanwhile, the combination of near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation at 808 nm with FA-DTX-OSWNT-SLN significantly enhanced cell inhibition. For in vivo experiments, the relative tumor volume of the sarcomaia 180 (S180) tumor-bearing mice in FA-DTX-OSWNT-SLN group was significantly smaller than that of control groups. Furthermore, when combining with NIR laser irradiation, the suppression on tumor growth was much stronger. In a word, FA-DTX-OSWNT-SLN in combination with 808 nm NIR laser could exhibit both in vitro and in vivo anti-tumor effects and may be a promising approach for cancer therapy.