Artificial Cell-Mediated Photodynamic Therapy Enhanced Anticancer Efficacy through Combination of Tumor Disruption and Immune Response Stimulation

Recent studies have identified photodynamic therapy (PDT) as a promising approach for cancer treatment. Here, in this study, we have constructed cancer cell membrane (CCM)-coated silica nanoparticles (SIL) as an artificial cell carrier (CCM/SIL) to effectively deliver chlorin e6 (Ce6), a commonly adopted photodynamic reagent (CCM/SIL/Ce6), to achieve enhanced PDT of cancer. In addition, apart from the generally recognized cytotoxicity induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS), our study also revealed that ROS could further potentiate the loss of intercellular junctions and integrity disruption as a result of down-regulation of VE-cadherin and CD31. Consequently, dendritic cells (DCs) were more readily accumulated to the tumor tissue and became maturated, which secreted tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-12 (IL-12) to trigger the following immune responses. Our work not only explored the anticancer feasibility of a new system but also demonstrated the underlining mechanisms responsible for PDT-induced anticancer effects, which offers a new perspective to employ and improve the efficacy of PDT and related systems.