A multimodal anticancer strategy based on exosome-coated prussian blue nanocarriers for melanoma treatment

Overcoming multidrug resistance and tumor recurrence in melanoma requires multimodal therapeutic strategies that surpass the limitations of monotherapy. Herein, we report a biomimetic nanoplatform, HMPB@EX-DOX, designed to combine chemotherapy, photothermal therapy (PTT), and iron-mediated oxidative stress to potentially contribute to ferroptosis-like cell death. The platform is based on hollow mesoporous Prussian blue nanocubes (HMPB), which provide a high specific surface area for doxorubicin (DOX) loading. It is further functionalized with mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosomes (MSC-EX) to enhance biocompatibility and promote tumor accumulation. Under near-infrared (NIR) irradiation, the system induced photothermal heating, chemotherapeutic drug release, and intracellular ROS generation, collectively enhancing oxidative stress in melanoma cells. In vitro clonogenic assays demonstrated that the combined treatment significantly suppressed colony formation to 10.2 ± 1.5%, outperforming single- or dual-modality groups (n = 3, p < 0.001). The biomimetic nanoplatform HMPB@EX-DOX exhibited significant ROS generation in vitro in B16F0 cells, which was enhanced under NIR irradiation. Cellular fluorescence analysis suggested a greater DOX-associated signal in B16F0 cells for HMPB@EX-DOX than for HMPB-DOX. In vivo evaluation in B16F0 melanoma-bearing mice demonstrated significant inhibition of tumor growth. The prepared HMPB@EX-DOX platform exhibited tumor accumulation and photothermal conversion at the tumor site under NIR irradiation. The developed platform was also capable of preclinical MR imaging and showed potential for in vivo contrast enhancement, while histopathological analysis suggested acceptable short-term biosafety of the prepared platform under the tested conditions. Overall, HMPB@EX-DOX represents a promising biomimetic nanoplatform for combined melanoma therapy, offering a useful foundation for future nanomedicine development.

Abstract from PubMed (PMID 42967516). This entry was added automatically by our daily literature monitor because it matches the topics we follow; read the full paper at the original source.