Ultra-high loading of sinoporphyrin sodium in ferritin for single-wave motivated photothermal and photodynamic co-therapy.

In this work, a potent photosensitizer, sinoporphyrin sodium (DVDMS), was loaded into RGD-modified ferritin (R-Fn) nanocages by a rapid, scalable and versatile approach for imaging guided photodynamic and photothermal (PTT/PDT) co-therapy. The resulting nanocomposite formed a well-defined nanocage with a photosensitizer loading capacity as high as 66.67 wt%, which far exceeds those reported previously. The bioengineered protein nanocage-based nanotheranostics exhibits a remarkably improved tumor treatment effect over DVDMS with good biocompatibility and the potential of clinical translation.