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Dual activated NIR-II fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging-guided cancer chemo-radiotherapy using hybrid plasmonic-fluorescent assemblies

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Abstract

Multimodal imaging in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II) guided cancer therapy is a highly precise and efficient cancer theranostic strategy. However, it is still a challenge to develop activated NIR-II optical imaging and therapy agents. In this study, we develop a pH-responsive hybrid plasmonic-fluorescent vesicle by self-assembly of amphiphilic plasmonic nanogapped gold nanorod (AuNNR) and fluorescent down-conversion nanoparticles (DCNP) (AuNNR-DCNP Ve), showing remarkable and activated NIR-II fluorescence (FL)/NIR-II photoacoustic (PA) imaging performances. The hybrid vesicle also exhibited superior loading capacity of doxorubicin as a superior drug carrier and efficient radiosensitizer for X-ray-induced radiotherapy. Interestingly, the accumulated hybrid AuNNR-DCNP Ve in the tumor resulted in a recovery of NIR-II FL imaging signal and a variation in NIR-II PA imaging signal. Dual activated NIR-II PA and FL imaging of the hybrid vesicle could trace drug release and precisely guided cancer radiotherapy to ultimately reduce the side effects to healthy tissue.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21635002 and 21874024), and the joint research projects of Health and Education Commission of Fujian Province (No. 2019-WJ-20).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MOE Key Laboratory for Analytical Science of Food Safety and Biology, College of Chemistry, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350116, China

    Tao Chen, Lichao Su, Xiaoguang Ge, Wenmin Zhang, Qingqing Li, Xuan Zhang, Jiamin Ye, Lisen Lin, Jibin Song & Huanghao Yang

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  1. Tao Chen
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  2. Lichao Su
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  3. Xiaoguang Ge
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  4. Wenmin Zhang
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Correspondence to Jibin Song or Huanghao Yang.

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Dual activated NIR-II fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging-guided cancer chemo-radiotherapy using hybrid plasmonic-fluorescent assemblies

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Chen, T., Su, L., Ge, X. et al. Dual activated NIR-II fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging-guided cancer chemo-radiotherapy using hybrid plasmonic-fluorescent assemblies. Nano Res. 13, 3268–3277 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-3000-9

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