Magnetic mesoporous janus microrollers for combined chemo- and photothermal ablation therapy

Abstract

Mobile microrobots have been proposed as a promising approach to overcome the limitations of traditional drug/gene delivery systems. Magnetically actuated surface rolling microrobots, or magnetic surface microrollers, have shown potential for navigation in physiologically relevant environments due to their robust locomotion characteristics. Although much is known about their locomotion abilities in various environments, the full extent of their potential in medical applications has yet to be fully explored. Here, the potential of surface microrollers for combined chemo- and photothermal ablation therapy under medical imaging modalities is demonstrated. The surface microrollers are half-coated with magnetic material, allowing for photothermal heating and magnetic locomotion, and loaded with a biopharmaceutics classification system (BCS) class IV anti-cancer drug, Docetaxel (DTX), for combined therapy. Synergistic action of on-demand photothermal ablation and the controlled release of DTX result in the efficient elimination of cancer cells. Furthermore, microrollers can be detected ex vivo with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and photoacoustic imaging (PA), highlighting the potential of surface microrollers for future targeted medical applications.