Magnetic targeting cobalt nanowire-based multifunctional therapeutic system for anticancer treatment and angiogenesis

Abstract In order to improve the anticancer therapeutic efficacy and postoperative recovery efficacy, the novel anticancer therapeutic system should have the ability to promote angiogenesis after anticancer therapy besides the excellent anticancer therapeutic efficacy. We present herein a magnetic targeting multifunctional anticancer therapeutic system based on cobalt nanowires (CoNWs) for anticancer therapy and angiogenesis. Magnetic characterization shows that the CoNWs can be concentrated in desired locations under the external magnetic field, which is favorable for anticancer target therapy. Besides, drug loading/release characterization reveals that the CoNWs interact with doxorubicin (DOX) by electrostatic interaction, and accordingly form a composite which can release DOX with temperature increase under near-infrared light (NIR) treatment. And anticancer test reveals that the nanowires loaded with the DOX (CoNWs-DOX) can produce an effective chemo-photothermal synergistic therapeutic effect against murine breast cancer cell lines (4T1) and human osteosarcoma cell lines (MG63) under NIR treatment. Furthermore, angiogenesis assessment reveals that the released cobalt ion from the nanowires can significantly enhance the angiogenesis efficacy after cancer treatment. These results suggest that the constructed anticancer therapeutic system provides a promising multifunctional platform for cancer treatment and postoperative recovery.