Hollow MnO2/GNPs serving as a multiresponsive nanocarrier for controlled drug release

In this work, hollow manganese dioxide/gold nanoparticle (MnO₂/GNPs) hybrid drug nanocarriers were prepared by coupling the gold nanoparticles (GNPs) with hollow structure manganese dioxide (MnO₂). Among them, GNPs have been used as near-infrared (NIR)-responsive element for photothermal effect under NIR laser irradiation. The glutathione (GSH)-responsive and pH-responsive performances of drug release were derived from hollow MnO₂. Particularly, Doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) can be loaded into hollow MnO₂/GNPs with the drug loading efficiency up to 82.0%. Moreover, the photothermal effect and GSH-/pH-responsive properties of hollow MnO₂/GNPs were investigated. The hollow MnO₂/GNPs possessed satisfactory drug release efficiency (ca. 87.4% of loaded drug released in 12 h) and have high photothermal conversion efficiency, multiresponsive properties, and degradability. Finally, the kinetics of drug release was discussed in detail. Thus, our finding highlights that the multiresponsive nanocarriers are of great potential in the field of drug controlled release.