Biomineralization synthesis of HBc-CuS nanoparticles for near-infrared light-guided photothermal therapy

Transition metal sulfide nanoparticles provide efficient tumor photothermal therapy under near-infrared light, while suffering from poor chemical stability and biocompatibility. Protein scaffolds are attractive templates to fabricate various inorganic nanostructures, due to their inherent capabilities of molecular recognition and self-assembly characteristics. Herein, a straightforward method is demonstrated for efficiently synthesizing CuS nanoparticles inside the inner cavity of the genetically modified hepatitis B core protein virus-like particles (HBc VLPs) via the affinity of histidine tags to copper ions. The monodispersed and well-defined HBc-CuS VLPs have been yielded with high efficiency and used as a potential photothermal agent for cancer therapy due to their excellent photothermal conversion efficiency, high cellular uptake and biocompatibility.