Functional magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles for enhanced gene transfection and photothermal ablation of tumor cells

Gene therapy has been developed as an innovative therapeutic modality in the past few decades for treatment of various fatal diseases such as cancer. However, the lack of gene carriers with reliable biosafety and loading capacity is still impeding the practical applications of gene therapy. Moreover, it has become a trend to combine multiple treatment strategies with gene therapy to achieve an enhanced curative effect. Herein, this study proposes the design of a multifunctional nanoplatform for gene delivery and photothermal therapy enhanced by magnetic targeting using functionalized magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles. Surface modification of magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles with chitosan and pDNA has been demonstrated to provide excellent colloidal stability and capacity for the magnetic targeting of HeLa cells. These nanocomposites exhibit superparamagnetism, which is remarkable and could potentiality lead to an improvement in their therapeutic effect under a localized magnetic field. The obtained nanoagent is able to generate a significant photothermal effect due to the strong optical absorbance in the near infrared region. Furthermore, superior gene transfection efficiency is achieved under magnetic guidance. In vitro experiments also reveal that this nanoagent has excellent biocompatibility for safe medical applications. This study can provide critical experimental evidence and encourage further investigation of combining photothermal therapy with gene therapy for treatment of various medical conditions.