Self-Signal-Triggered Drug Delivery System for Tumor Therapy Using Cancer Cell Membrane-Coated Biocompatible Mn 3 O 4 Nanocomposites.

In anti-cancer metastasis treatment, precise drug delivery to cancer cells remains a challenge. Innovative nanocomposites are developed to tackle these issues effectively. The approach involves the creation of manganese oxide (Mn 3 O 4 ) nanoparticles (NPs) and their functionalization using trisodium citrate to yield functionalized Mn 3 O 4 NPs (F-Mn 3 O 4 NPs), with enhanced water solubility, stability, and biocompatibility. Subsequently, the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin (DOX) is encapsulated with Mn 3 O 4 NPs, resulting in DOX/Mn 3 O 4 NPs. To achieve cell-specific targeting, These NPs are coated with HeLa cell membranes (HCM), forming HCM/DOX/Mn 3 O 4 . For further refinement, a transferrin (Tf) receptor is integrated with cracked HCM to create Tf-HCM/DOX/Mn 3 O 4 nanocomposites (NC) with specific cell membrane targeting capabilities. The resulting Tf-HCM/DOX/Mn 3 O 4 NC exhibits excellent drug encapsulation efficiency (97.5%) and displays triggered drug release when exposed to NIR laser irradiation in the tumor's environment (pH 5.0 and 6.5). Furthermore, these nanocomposites show resistance to macrophage uptake and demonstrate homotypic cancer cell targeting specificity, even in the presence of other tumor cells. In vitro toxicity tests show that Tf-HCM/DOX/Mn 3 O 4 NC achieves significant anticancer activity against HeLa and BT20 cancer cells, with percentages of 76.46% and 71.36%, respectively. These results indicate the potential of Tf-HCM/DOX/Mn 3 O 4 NC as an effective nanoplatform for chemo-photothermal therapy.