A new kind of ultrasmall dissociable AuNR@PEG/PLGA vesicles (≈60 nm) (AuNR = gold nanorod; PEG = poly(ethylene glycol); PLGA = poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)) assembled from small AuNRs (dimension: ≈8 nm × 2 nm) is reported. They exhibit several striking features: prolonged circulation and prominent tumor accumulation; rapid excretion from the body as AuNR@PEG after therapy; enhanced photoacoustic and photo thermal properties; and high photothermal cancer therapy efficacy.

Multimodal imaging‐guided photothermal therapy (PTT), for the therapy of cancer, based on a ferritin (FRT) nanocage loaded with the near‐infrared dye IR820 (designated DFRT) is demonstrated. The dual roles of DFRT (in imaging and PTT) are successfully balanced by using two different excitation wavelengths: 550 nm for high quantum‐yield fluorescence imaging on the one hand and 808 nm for photoacoustic imaging and PTT with high photothermal conversion efficiency on the other.

Using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to monitor and quantitatively analyze the delivery and localization of Au nanomaterials (NMs), a widely used photothermal agent, is essential to optimize therapeutic protocols to achieve individualized medicine and avoid side effects. Coupling radiometals to Au NMs via a chelator faces the challenges of possible detachment of the radiometals as well as surface property changes of the NMs. In this study, we reported a simple and general chelator-free 64Cu radiolabeling method by chemically reducing 64Cu on the surface of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-stabilized Au NMs regardless of their shape and size. Our 64Cu-integrated NMs are proved to be radiochemically stable and can provide an accurate and sensitive localization of NMs through noninvasive PET imaging. We further integrated 64Cu onto arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) peptide modified Au nanorods (NRs) for tumor theranostic application. These NRs showed high tumor targeting ability in a U87MG glioblastoma xenograft model and were successfully used for PET image-guided photothermal therapy.

Plasmonic MoO3-x@MoO3 nanosheets obtained from surface oxidation of MoO3-x were employed as a SERS substrate for methylene blue detection. They exhibit extraordinary sensitivity comparable to noble metals, which is attributed to shell-isolated electromagnetic enhancing by the plasmonic MoO3-x core and elimination of the photocatalytic degradation by the MoO3 shell.

We present a novel gold bellflower (GBF) platform with multiple-branched petals, prepared by a liquid–liquid–gas triphase interface system, for photoacoustic imaging (PAI)-guided photothermal therapy (PTT). Upon near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation, the GBFs, with strong NIR absorption, showed very strong PA response and an ultrahigh photothermal conversion efficiency (η, ∼74%) among the reported photothermal conversion agents. The excellent performance in PAI and PTT is mainly attributed to the unique features of the GBFs: (i) multiple-branched petals with an enhanced local electromagnetic field, (ii) long narrow gaps between adjacent petals that induce a strong plasmonic coupling effect, and (iii) a bell-shaped nanostructure that can effectively amplify the acoustic signals during the acoustic propagation. Besides the notable PTT and an excellent PAI effect, the NIR-absorbing GBFs may also find applications in NIR light-triggered drug delivery, catalysis, surface enhanced Raman scattering, stealth, antireflection, IR sensors, telecommunications, and the like.

Functionalized quantum dots (QDs) have been widely explored for multimodality bioimaging and proven to be versatile agents. Attaching positron-emitting radioisotopes onto QDs not only endows their positron emission tomography (PET) functionality, but also results in self-illuminating QDs, with no need for an external light source, by Cerenkov resonance energy transfer (CRET). Traditional chelation methods have been used to incorporate the radionuclide, but these methods are compromised by the potential for loss of radionuclide due to cleavage of the linker between particle and chelator, decomplexation of the metal, and possible altered pharmacokinetics of nanomaterials. Herein, we described a straightforward synthesis of intrinsically radioactive [64Cu]CuInS/ZnS QDs by directly incorporating 64Cu into CuInS/ZnS nanostructure with 64CuCl2 as synthesis precursor. The [64Cu]CuInS/ZnS QDs demonstrated excellent radiochemical stability with less than 3% free 64Cu detected even after exposure to serum containing EDTA (5 mM) for 24 h. PEGylation can be achieved in situ during synthesis, and the PEGylated radioactive QDs showed high tumor uptake (10.8% ID/g) in a U87MG mouse xenograft model. CRET efficiency was studied as a function of concentration and 64Cu radioactivity concentration. These [64Cu]CuInS/ZnS QDs were successfully applied as an efficient PET/self-illuminating luminescence in vivo imaging agents.

Despite the effort of developing various nanodelivery systems, most of them suffer from undesired high uptakes by the reticuloendothelial system, such as liver and spleen. Herein we develop an endogenous phosphatase-triggered coassembly strategy to form tumor-specific indocyanine green (ICG)-doped nanofibers (5) for cancer theranostics. Based on coordinated intermolecular interactions, 5 significantly altered near-infrared absorbance of ICG, which improves the critical photoacoustic and photothermal properties. The phosphatase-instructed coassembly process, as well as its theranostic capability, was successfully conducted at different levels ranging from in vitro, living cell, tissue mimic, to in vivo. Specifically, the tumor uptake of ICG was markedly increased to 15.05 ± 3.78%ID/g, which was 25-fold higher than that of free ICG (0.59 ± 0.24%ID/g) at 4 h after intravenous injection. The resulting ultrahigh T/N ratios (>15) clearly differentiated tumors from the surrounding normal tissue. Complete tumor elimination with high therapeutic accuracy has been successfully achieved upon laser irradiation (0.8 W/cm2, 5 min) within 24–48 h postinjection. As the first example, in vivo formation of tumor-specific ICG-doped nanofiber for PTT theranostics owns the immense potential for clinical translation of personalized nanomedicine with targeted drug delivery as well as for cancer theranostics.

Extensive research indicates that graphene oxide (GO) can effectively deliver photosensitives (PSs) by π-π stacking for photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, due to the tight complexes of GO and PSs, the fluorescence of PSs are often drastically quenched via an energy/charge transfer process, which limits this GO-PS system for photodiagnostics especially in fluorescence imaging. To solve this problem, we herein strategically designed and prepared a novel photo-theranostic agent based on sinoporphyrin sodium (DVDMS) loaded PEGylated GO (GO-PEG-DVDMS) with improved fluorescence property for enhanced optical imaging guided PDT. The fluorescence of loaded DVDMS is drastically enhanced via intramolecular charge transfer. Meanwhile, the GO-PEG vehicles can significantly increase the tumor accumulation efficiency of DVDMS and lead to an improved photodynamic therapy (PDT) efficacy as compared to DVDMS alone. The cancer theranostic capability of the as-prepared GO-PEG-DVDMS was carefully investigated both in vitro and in vivo. Most intriguingly, 100% in vivo tumor elimination was achieved by intravenous injection of GO-PEG-DVDMS (2 mg/kg of DVDMS, 50 J) without tumor recurrence, loss of body weight or other noticeable toxicity. This novel GO-PEG-DVDMS theranostics is well suited for enhanced fluorescence imaging guided PDT.