Fabrication of carbon quantum dots nanoparticles: unveiling the potential effects of synergic chemo-photothermal therapy in gastric cancer cells

Chemotherapy and photothermal therapy have demonstrated significant promise in the treatment of gastric cancer. A stable, effective, and safe photothermal agent is needed in this synergic system. Here, carbon quantum dots (CDs), an efficient photothermal agent, were first developed. By encapsulating CDs and the gastric cancer drug camptothecin (CT) in liposomes (Lip), a folic acid (FA)-targeted multifunctional photothermal nanosystem was rationally developed. To augment the photothermal performance and accelerate liposome cleavage for drug release, a NIR photothermal agent, indocyanine green (IG), was incorporated into the bilayer membranes. This built photothermal multifunctional nanosystem was triggered by an NIR laser and demonstrated payload-controlled release, in addition to exceptional performance with a photothermal conversion efficacy of up to 46.97%. The multifunctional photothermal nanosystem demonstrated superior cytocompatibility, stimuli-responsive drug release, improved tumor-specific targeting, and efficient cell death of NCI-N87 gastric cancer cells through multimodal synergic treatment. The effective development of this NIR-triggered, cell-targeted, photothermal, multifunctional nanosystem would enhance the therapeutic efficiency of gastric cancer therapy and offer a potential approach for designing and developing synergistic chemo-photothermal combination therapies.