Red Phosphorus Decorated TiO2 Nanorod Mediated Photodynamic and Photothermal Therapy for Renal Cell Carcinoma

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is a serious and tenacious disease. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) are effective means of cancer treatment. However, PDT combined with PTT has been rarely reported in ccRCC treatment. In the present study, by developing the core-shell structured TiO2@red phosphorus nanorods (TiO2@RP NRs) as a photosensitizer, the feasibility and effectiveness of synchronous PDT and PTT treatments for ccRCC are demonstrated. The core-shell structured TiO2@RP NRs are synthesized to drive the PDT and PTT for ccRCC, in which the RP shell is the sensitizer even in the near-infrared (NIR) region. The optimized TiO2@RP NRs can respond to NIR and produce local heat under irradiation. The NRs are estimated in ccRCC treatments via cell counting kit-8 assay, propidium iodide staining, qRT-PCR, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) probes in vitro, while terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling is conducted in vivo. After NIR irradiation, TiO2@RP NRs can efficiently kill ccRCC cells by producing local heat and ROS and cause low injury to normal kidney cells. Furthermore, treatment with TiO2@RP NRs and NIR can kill significant numbers of deep-tissue ccRCC cells in vivo. This work highlights a promising photo-driven therapy for kidney cancer.

Automated summary

This study developed TiO2@RP NRs as a photosensitizer for the synchronous PDT and PTT treatments for ccRCC and demonstrated their feasibility and effectiveness through in vitro and in vivo experiments. TiO2@RP NRs were shown to efficiently kill ccRCC cells under NIR irradiation while causing minimal damage to normal kidney cells, highlighting a promising photo-driven therapy for kidney cancer.