A NIR-II-emitting gold nanocluster-based drug delivery system for smartphone-triggered photodynamic theranostics with rapid body clearance

Tailoring the SWIR emission of gold nanoclusters by surface ligand rigidification and their application in 3D bioimaging

“…2,3 This has led to the development of a variety of SWIR contrast agents based on organic scaffolds such as the indocyanine family, 4 BODIPY, 5 D-A-D structure 6 and AIEgens, 7 and also inorganic probes like lanthanidebased-nanoparticles, 8 quantum dots, 9 or metal (Au, Ag, Cu) nanoclusters (NCs). 10,11 In particular, Au NCs are promising candidates as efficient SWIR emitters because their absorbance/emission profiles in the NIR-I/SWIR can be modulated by controlling their size (i.e. number of atoms) and their surface chemistry.…”

Amplified Drug Delivery System with a Pair of Master Keys Triggering Precise Drug Release for Chemo-Photothermal Therapy

“…Figure A shows that the body weight of the mice did not change significantly during the treatment period, indicating that the toxic effect of the DDSs was low . AuNCs were mainly eliminated by the RES including liver and spleen. − As shown in Figure B, the Dox@AuNCs/DNA + NIR group had the best effect of tumor inhibition. The results show that an effective chemo-photothermal united therapy was developed with Dox@AuNCs/DNA.…”

Semiconductor Polymer with Strong NIR-II Absorption for Photoacoustic Imaging and Photothermal Therapy

“…Among the various imaging techniques, photoacoustic (PA) imaging is very promising because of its high imaging depth, good spatial resolution, and easy-to-get contrast agents. − In PA imaging, the contrast agents are excited by pulsed laser, undergo photothermal conversion, and further produce acoustic waves . Because tissues can scatter and absorb the excitation light and some components like hemoglobin can also produce PA signals in a wavelength-dependent manner and consequently lead to reduced imaging contrast, the imaging spectral range, namely, the absorption wavelength of the contrast agents, influences strongly the imaging quality. − According to the spectral properties of tissues, the PA imaging in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II) (1000–1700 nm) has higher imaging quality than that in the traditional near-infrared window (NIR-I) (700–1000 nm), rendering higher signal-to-background ratio (SBR) and deeper penetration. ,− So far, different types of NIR-II PA imaging agents have been developed, including inorganic materials (such as gold nanoparticles (NPs), copper sulfide NPs, carbon nanotubes, and graphene) and organic molecules (such as conjugated small molecules and semiconductor polymers). − Among them, organic imaging agents have better application potentials because of their high biosafety, widely tailorable structures and properties, and rapid metabolism. ,,− Moreover, semiconductor polymers are more attractive because of their high light harvesting and high photostability. − …”