Design and application of a smart nanodevice by combining cationic drug delivery and hyperthermia for cancer apoptosis.

Multifunctional magnetic nanoparticles have gained ample attention in the field of nanomedicine in recent years. Here, novel superparamagnetic core-shell manganese ferrite nanoparticles (MFNP)-encapsulated mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSMFNPs) loaded with anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) for the combined application of hyperthermia and chemotherapy were developed and tested in vitro. Our results indicate that DOX-MSMFNPs achieved a favorable hyperthermic response in an alternating magnetic field in addition to cancer cell-specific cationic DOX release due to the cleavage of amide bonds under acidic pH, and synergistically contributed towards an enhanced tumoricidal effect.