Traditional techniques for the synthesis of nickel sulfide (NiS) nanoparticles (NPs) always present drawbacks of morphological irregularity, non-porous structure and poor long-term stability, which are extremely unfavorable for establishing effective therapeutic agents. Here, a category of hollow mesoporous NiS (hm-NiS) NPs with uniform spherical structure and good aqueous dispersity were innovatively developed based on a modified solvothermal reaction technique. Upon the successful synthesis of hm-NiS NPs, dopamine was seeded and in situ polymerized into polydopamine (PDA) on the NP surface, followed by functionalization with thiol-polyethylene glycol (SH-PEG) and encapsulation of the chemotherapeutic drug, doxorubicin (DOX), to form hm-NiS@PDA/PEG/DOX (NiPPD) NPs. The resultant NiPPD NPs exhibited a decent photothermal response and stability, attributed to the optical absorption of the hm-NiS nanocore and PDA layer in the near-infrared (NIR) region. Furthermore, stimulus-responsive drug release was achieved under both acidic pH conditions and NIR laser irradiation, owing to the protonation of –NH₂ groups in the DOX molecules and local thermal shock, respectively. Lastly, a strong combinatorial photothermal–chemotherapeutic effect was demonstrated for tumor suppression with minimal systemic toxicity in vivo. Collectively, this state-of-the-art paradigm may provide useful insights to deepen the application of hm-NiS NPs for disease management and precision medicine.

中文翻译：

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空心中孔硫化镍纳米粒子的简便合成，用于癌症的高效组合光热化学疗法。

合成硫化镍（NiS）纳米颗粒（NPs）的传统技术始终存在形态不规则，无孔结构和长期稳定性差的缺点，这对建立有效的治疗剂极为不利。在此，基于改进的溶剂热反应技术创新性地开发了一种具有均匀球形结构和良好水分散性的中空NiS（hm-NiS）NPs。在成功合成hm-NiS NP后，将多巴胺植入原位在NP表面聚合成聚多巴胺（PDA），然后用硫醇-聚乙二醇（SH-PEG）官能化并封装化疗药物阿霉素（DOX），形成hm-NiS @ PDA / PEG / DOX（NiPPD） NP。所得的NiPPD NP表现出良好的光热响应和稳定性，这归因于hm-NiS纳米核和PDA层在近红外（NIR）区域的光吸收。此外，由于在DOX分子中–NH ₂基团的质子化和局部热激，分别在酸性pH条件和NIR激光照射下均实现了刺激响应型药物的释放。最后，在体内抑制肿瘤和最小全身毒性方面，显示出强大的组合光热化学疗法效果。总而言之，这种最新的范例可以为加深hm-NiS NP在疾病管理和精准医学中的应用提供有用的见解。