Synthetic carbon-based lanthanide upconversion nanoparticles for melanoma therapy

As one most common primary intraocular malignant tumor in adults, the prognosis of melanoma (UM) remains unsatisfactory. As a novel treatment strategy for UM, photothermal therapy (PTT) still has inherent drawbacks despite its benefits, necessitating enhancements. A promising approach is the development of reagents with superior photothermal conversion efficiency under irradiation of long wavelength laser. Carbon nanomaterials are known for their wide absorption band and are hindered by the single-wavelength lasers currently used in clinical treatments. This study addresses this limitation by coating mesoporous carbon nanomaterials (MCNs) with a lanthanide oxysulfide up-conversion material (Y2O2S:Yb3+,Er3+), converting 980 nm light into visible light and enhancing the photothermal conversion efficiency from 59.48% to 82.86%. Additionally, gambogic acid and doxorubicin were loaded to intensify the photothermal synergistic therapy effect. A double stimuli-responsive hydrogel (PNIPAM) coating ensures controlled drug release and safe delivery to tumors. Kinds of evaluations highlight the MCNs/Ln/GD/FR nanocomposites' superior tumor targeting and evident photothermal synergistic therapy effects on subcutaneous and ocular in situ UM tumors by activating tumor-suppressive signaling pathways while inhibiting proliferation and differentiation-related signaling pathways. These findings present a pioneering direction for photothermal reagent exploration and offer significant insights for advancing optical cancer therapy.