Photothermia and Activated Drug Release of Natural Cell Membrane Coated Plasmonic Gold Nanorods and β-Lapachone

Plasmonic gold nanoparticles present extraordinary potential for near-infrared photothermal and triggered-therapeutic release treatments of solid tumors. In this study, we create a multifunctional nanocarrier in which PEG-coated gold nanorods are grouped into natural cell membrane vesicles (CM) from lung cancer (A549) cells and loaded with β-lapachone (CM-β-Lap-PEG-AuNRs). β-Lapachone (β-Lap) is an anticancer agent activated by the enzyme NADP(H):quinine oxidoreductase (NQO1), commonly found at higher levels in cancer cells. The irradiation with near-infrared (NIR) laser leads to disruption of the vesicles and release of the PEG-AuNRs and β-Lap. The system presents an enhanced in vitro cytotoxicity against A549 cancer cells, which can be attributed to the specific cytotoxicity of β-Lap combined with heat generated by laser irradiation of the AuNRs. In agreement, in vivo treatment with CM-β-Lap-PEG-AuNRs and irradiation shows a histopathological recovery from nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer of most of the animals with only one cycle of application and irradiation. Such multifunctional platform is a promissing candidate for improved activated drug release and phototherapy.