Combined Chemo-photothermal Antitumor Therapy Using Molybdenum Disulfide Modified with Hyperbranched Polyglycidyl

In the treatment of cancers, molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) has shown great potential as a photoabsorbing agent in photothermal therapy and also as an antitumor drug delivery system in chemotherapy. However, the poor dispersibility and stability of MoS₂ in aqueous solutions limit its applications in cancer therapy. To overcome the shortcomings, MoS₂ was modified mainly by surface adsorption of linear polymers, such as chitosan and poly­(ethylene glycol). As reported, the linear polymers could be more rapidly cleared from blood circulation than their branched counterparts. Herein, we developed hyperbranched polyglycidyl (HPG)-modified MoS₂ (MoS₂–HPG) by absorbing HPG on the MoS₂ surface. The MoS₂–HPG as a novel photoabsorbing agent was also used as a nanoscaled carrier to load antitumor drug doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX) (MoS₂–HPG–DOX) for combined chemo-photothermal therapy. The physicochemical and photothermal properties of MoS₂–HPG were measured, and the results indicate that MoS₂–HPG had good dispersion and stability in aqueous solutions and also high photothermal conversion efficiency. MoS₂–HPG displayed good biocompatibility in hemocompatibility and cytotoxicity evaluations in vitro. Furthermore, the combined chemo-photothermal therapy using MoS₂–HPG–DOX demonstrated better anticancer effect than the individual chemotherapy or photothermal therapy alone. From the results, MoS₂–HPG with combined chemo-photothermal therapy could be developed as a promising therapeutic formulation for clinical cancer treatment.