Proteins have received increasing attention as a novel platform for drug delivery and phototheranostic agents that may serve as new nanomedicines. In drug delivery system, proteins can act as powerful tools with self-assembled structures, triggering groups, receptors and agents to enhance cell penetration. Compared to other nanoparticle based theranostics, nano-platforms for theranostics by utilizing proteins have unique merits, such as higher loading capacities and high efficiency of photosensitizers in phototherapies. However, the full potential of protein-based theranostics has not been achieved thus far. In this review, recent advances made in this area were discussed following a format based on proteins in drug delivery systems, proteins-dye complexes for phototherapy of cancer, proteins nanoparticles for imaging-guided cancer therapy such as fluorescent imaging, positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound (US) Imaging, PA imaging and proteins-based nanoprobes and nanostructures. Importantly, this discussion also provides a view of future advances that will likely be made in this area and their potential clinical applications.

作为一种新型的药物输送和光热致化学剂平台，蛋白质已受到越来越多的关注，它们可以用作新型纳米药物。在药物输送系统中，蛋白质可以作为具有自组装结构，触发基团，受体和试剂以增强细胞渗透的强大工具。与其他基于纳米颗粒的治疗剂相比，利用蛋白质的治疗剂纳米平台具有独特的优点，例如在光疗中具有更高的负载能力和光敏剂的高效性。但是，迄今为止，尚未实现基于蛋白质的治疗学的全部潜力。在这篇综述中，按照药物输送系统中的蛋白质，用于癌症光疗的蛋白质-染料复合物，用于成像指导的癌症治疗的蛋白质纳米颗粒，例如荧光成像，正电子发射断层扫描（PET），磁共振成像（MRI），超声（US）成像，PA成像以及基于蛋白质的纳米探针和纳米结构。重要的是，该讨论还提供了在该领域可能取得的未来进展及其潜在临床应用的观点。