Loading and controlled release of sufficient hydrophobic drugs to
tumor cells has been the bottleneck in
chemotherapy for decades. Herein we report the development of a fluorescent and mesoporous
carbon nanoshell (
FMP-CNS) that exhibits a loading capacity for the hydrophobic
drug paclitaxel (PTX) as high as ∼80 wt% and releases the
drug in a controllable fashion under NIR irradiation (825 nm) at an intensity of 1.5 W cm-2. The high
drug loading is primarily attributed to its mesoporous structure and to the supramolecular π-stacking between
FMP-CNSs and PTX molecules. The
FMP-CNS also exhibits wavelength-tunable and upconverted fluorescence properties and thus can serve as an optical marker for confocal, two-photon, and near infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging. Furthermore, our in vitro results indicate that
FMP-CNSs demonstrate high therapeutic efficacy through the synergistic effect of combined chemo-photothermal treatment. In vivo studies demonstrate marked suppression of
tumor growth in mice bearing rat C6
glioblastoma after administration with a single intratumoral injection of PTX-loaded
FMP-CNS.