A pH-Sensitive Composite with Controlled Multistage Drug Release for Synergetic Photothermal Therapy and Chemotherapy

Multifunctional core-shell nanocomposites are excellent platforms for effective drug delivery, and controlled release is attracting increasing attention from researchers owing to its advantages in cancer therapy. Here, a new nanocomposite containing nitrogen-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) embedded in ferromagnetic Fe3O4 cores and a pH-sensitive shell constituted by hydroxyapatite (HA) with loaded 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) was successfully synthesized. The nanocomposite can be used for near-infrared laser-induced photothermal cancer therapy and synergetic chemotherapy. The pH-sensitive HA shell exhibits a high drug-loading capability and achieves a pH-controlled and multistage drug release. As a result, this multifunctional core-shell N-CDs@Fe3O4@HA-5FU nanocomposite is an excellent and promising candidate with significant potential for targeted and synergetic cancer treatment.