Imaging-guided Phototherapy Research Articles

Hypoxia-responsive near infrared thioxanthene-hemicyanine nanoparticle for multimodal imaging-guided photothermal/photodynamic therapy

Multimodal imaging-guided phototherapy is an emerging treatment for tumor elimination that can provide more physiological and pathological information for precise theranostics with minimal side effects. Herein, we proposed a novel hypoxia-activated near infrared (NIR) probe (AzoCyS-N) based on a thioxanthene-hemicyanine scaffold for tumor multimodal imaging and photothermal/photodynamic therapy. The thioxanthene-hemicyanine fluorophore (CyS-NH2) could be released from AzoCyS-N via reductive cleavage of the azo group under hypoxia, resulting in a dramatically enhanced NIR fluorescence signal at 760 nm and redshifted absorption at 730 nm. AzoCyS-N was further encapsulated into a folic acid modified amphiphilic polymer to form AzoCyS-N NPs to further improve the tumor selectivity. In addition, the released Cys-NH2 could generate singlet oxygen and exhibited decent photothermal effects under 690 nm light irradiation. The in vivo studies confirmed that the NIR fluorescence and PA signals in the tumor region were selectively lightened after intravenous injection of AzoCyS-N NPs. Finally, solid tumor growth was significantly suppressed by the synergistic effect of PDT and PTT. This work provides a powerful multimode imaging-guided synergistic phototherapeutic system for precise tumor theranostics.

Carbon Dots in Biomedicine: A Review.

Despite the rapid development of science and technology, the effective treatment of cancer still threatens human life and health. However, the success of cancer treatment is closely related to early diagnosis, identification, and effective treatment. In recent years, with the strengthening of the development and research of nanomaterials for cancer diagnosis and treatment, researchers have found that carbon dots (CDs) have the advantages of wide absorption, excellent biocompatibility, diverse imaging characteristics, and photostability and are widely used in various fields, such as sensing, imaging, and drug/gene transportation. Recently, researchers also discovered that CDs could be used as an effective photosensitizer to generate active oxygen or convert light energy into heat under the stimulation of the external lasers, making them have the effects of photothermal and photodynamic therapy for cancer. In this review, we first outline the single-modal and multimodal imaging analysis of CDs in cancer cells. After introducing diversified imaging functions, we focused on the design and the latest research progress of CDs in phototherapy and introduced in detail the strategies of CDs in phototherapy treatment and the challenges faced by clinical applications. We hope that this overview can provide important insights for researchers and accelerate the pace of research on CDs in imaging-guided phototherapy treatment.

Pt nanoenzyme decorated yolk-shell nanoplatform as an oxygen generator for enhanced multi-modality imaging-guided phototherapy

The unsatisfactory efficacy of conventional theranostic agents in ablating tumor poses urgent demands on the development of high-performance integrated theranostic agents utilizing rising nanotechnology. To cope with the existing limitations, here we presented an intelligent nanoplatform based on yolk-shell Fe3O4@polydopamine prepared by mussel-inspired polydopamine chemistry and sacrificial template method as well as subsequent incorporation of Pt nanoparticles and chlorine 6 (Ce6) by in situ reduction and electrostatic adsorption for photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal (PTT). The resultant nanoplatform could effectively deliver photosensitizer Ce6 to tumor sites, then promoting the decomposition of endogenous H2O2 to oxygen, finally achieving enhanced PDT therapy, which is demonstrated by in vitro and in vivo evaluations. Importantly, the generated oxygen bubbles could improve the echogenicity signal of yolk-shell microspheres and thereby provide enhanced ultrasonic (US) signal for imaging solid tumors. Overall, the synergistic combination of magnetic Fe3O4, green polydopamine, catalytic Pt nanoparticles, photosensitive Ce6 enabled the hybrid nanoplatform to have good biocompatibility, efficient tumor accumulation, excellent phototherapy efficiency, high T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and fluorescence imaging ability (FL). Our study integrating the merits of PDT/PTT and US/MRI/FL into a single nanoplatform will open an avenue of therapeutic strategy toward biomedical applications.

Orthotopic Bladder Tumor Targeted Carbon Dots for Fluorescence Imaging-guided Phototherapy

Orthotopic Bladder Tumor Targeted Carbon Dots for Fluorescence Imaging-guided Phototherapy

Multifunctional phototheranostic nanoplatform based on polydopamine-manganese dioxide-IR780 iodide for effective magnetic resonance imaging-guided synergistic photodynamic/photothermal therapy

Multifunctional phototheranostics combining diagnostic and therapeutic modalities may provide a revolutionary opportunity for cancer treatment. As a promising tumor phototheranostic molecule, IR780 iodide (IR780) shows excellent photodynamic and photothermal performance under near-infrared laser irradiation; however, its hydrophobicity and instability limit its further use in organisms. This work demonstrates the design and development of a multifunctional nanoplatform (PMIDA, referring to polydopamine (PDA)-manganese dioxide (MnO2)-IR780) for imaging-guided phototherapy. The good biocompatibility of PDA greatly improves the water solubility and photostability of IR780, and its excellent photothermal properties make PMIDA a dual photothermal therapy (PTT). MnO2-induced generation of oxygen in the tumor microenvironment improves the hypoxia effect and photodynamic therapy (PDT) of IR780. Moreover, Mn2+ serves as a decent T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) probe to guide treatment. Notably, in relevant cellular assays, PMIDA shows high photodynamic and photothermal effects contributing to the final therapeutic effect. The MRI-guided PDT/PTT synergistic therapy effect in vivo is demonstrated by precise tumor diagnosis and complete tumor elimination outcomes. Based on these experiments, PMIDA nanoparticles display promising effects in facilitating intravenous injection of IR780 and achieving magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided phototheranostic efficacy for tumor treatment.

Biocompatible Mesoporous Silica-Polydopamine Nanocomplexes as MR/Fluorescence Imaging Agent for Light-Activated Photothermal-Photodynamic Cancer Therapy In Vivo.

Conventional cancer phototherapy with single modality suffers from low therapeutic efficacy and undesired posttreatment damage for adjacent normal tissues. Therefore, the lower NIR laser irradiation power is vital to the reduction or preclusion of risk of scalds and burns in normal tissues. Herein, we rationally proposed a novel multifunctional nanocomplex, which enabled good magnetic resonance (MR) imaging contrast effect and promising photothermal conversion efficacy. The prepared core/shell nanocomplexes [MSN-Ce6@PDA (Mn)] were composed of chlorin e6-embedded mesoporous silica/nanoparticle composites as the cores, and then polydopamine and manganese ions were conjugated on the cores to form protective shells. The MSN-Ce6@PDA (Mn) nanocomplexes revealed superior properties in colloidal stability, photothermal conversion, reaction oxygen species generation, magnetic resonance imaging, etc. Under the guidance of MR and fluorescence imaging, these MSN-Ce6@PDA (Mn) nanocomplexes were found to be primarily accumulated in the MDA-MB-231 tumor area. Furthermore, the combined photodynamic and photothermal therapy exhibited strong inhibition to the growth of MDA-MB-231 tumor in vitro and in vivo. Besides, the MSN-Ce6@PDA (Mn) nanocomplexes also exhibited excellent biocompatibility and low damage to the healthy animals. Hence, the results demonstrated that the prepared MSN-Ce6@PDA (Mn) nanocomplex would be a promising potential for multimodal imaging-guided phototherapy.

Iron oxide-based enzyme mimic nanocomposite for dual-modality imaging guided chemical phototherapy and anti-tumor immunity against immune cold triple-negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer has few biomarkers to guide benefit from immunotherapy; furthermore, the biochemical features of the tumor microenvironment including acidosis, hypoxia, and high hydrogen peroxide concentrations, significantly modulate cancer cell metabolism and metastatic potential, and associate with bad outcomes from chemo-radiotherapy and surgery. Herein, a theranostic nanocomposite with a dual imaging modality and chemical phototherapeutic capacity has been used for breast cancer cell inhibition, which is developed to self-assemble superparamagnetic iron oxide nanocrystals and IR-780 iodides in one system. Due to the magnetic resonance and near-infrared Ⅱ fluorescence capacity, this nanocomposite serves as a contrast agent for the high-sensitivity, accurate cancer diagnosis and facilitates imaging-guided phototherapy. Furthermore, this nanocomposite not only performs dual enzyme-like activities in the tumor microenvironment, but also carries out the bioeffect of hyperthermia and oxidative stress, which could repolarize tumor-associated macrophages from the tumor-promoting M2 phenotype into the tumoricidal M1 phenotype, reduce the number of immunosuppressive cells, and execute immune activation. Through simultaneous chemical phototherapy and anti-tumor immunity, this iron oxide-based nanocomposite successfully suppresses tumor growth and metastasis, and has good biocompatibility in normal tissues and organs; thus, it might provide new insights into the development of a novel cancer therapy strategy.

Core-Shell-Structured Covalent-Organic Framework as a Nanoagent for Single-Laser-Induced Phototherapy.

Imaging-guided phototherapy, including photothermal therapy and photodynamic therapy, has been emerging as a promising avenue for precision cancer treatment. However, the utilization of a single laser to induce combination phototherapy and multiple-model imaging remains a great challenge. Herein, we report, the first of its kind, a covalent-organic framework (COF)-based magnetic core-shell nanocomposite, Fe3O4@COF-DhaTph, that is used as a multifunctional nanoagent for cancer theranostics under single 660 nm NIR irradiation. Besides significant photothermal and photodynamic effects, it still permits triple-modal magnetic resonance/photoacoustic/near-infrared thermal (IR) imaging due to its unequaled magnetic and optical performance. We believe that the results obtained herein could obviously promote the application of COF-based multifunctional nanomaterials in cancer theranostics.

Fused-Ring Small-Molecule-Based Bathochromic Nano-agents for Tumor NIR-II Fluorescence Imaging-Guided Photothermal/Photodynamic Therapy.

Optical imaging in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) windows reduces much more autofluorescence and photon scattering from biological tissues and allows further tissue penetration depth and superior spatial resolution in living bodies. Herein, a fused-ring 2,2'-((2Z,2'Z)-((12,13-bis(2-ethylhexyl)-3,9-diundecyl-12,13-dihydro-[1,2,5]thiadiazolo[3,4-e]thieno[2,″3″:4',5']thieno[2',3':4,5]pyrrolo[3,2-g]thieno[2',3':4,5]thieno[3,2-b]indole-2,10-diyl)bis(methanylylidene))bis(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-indene-2,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile (TPBT) molecule was explored as a multifunctional tumor theranostic reagent for photothermal/photodynamic therapy guided by NIR-II imaging. The TPBT molecule has an electron-deficient core with a ladder-type multi-fused ring and shows a narrow band gap that can enhance the near-infrared absorption. The J-aggregative TPBT NPs were formed by nanoprecipitation with great bathochromic shift in absorption and emission spectra, which endows them with ideal fluorescence imaging ability in the NIR-II region. Moreover, TPBT NPs present both higher photothermal conversion efficiency (∼36.5%) and effective ROS generation ability, making them excellent candidate for cancer photothermal/photodynamic therapy. Moreover, the biocompatible TPBT NPs can effectively passively target tumor sites due to their enhanced permeability and retention effect for more precision treatment. Thus, TPBT NPs as a multifunctional phototheranostic agent in the NIR-II region present promising potential in clinical cancer NIR-II imaging-guided phototherapy.

Stable Twisted Conformation Aza-BODIPY NIR-II Fluorescent Nanoparticles with Ultra-Large Stokes Shift for Imaging-Guided Phototherapy

Fluorescence imaging in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 1000–1700 nm) holds great promise for in vivo imaging and imaging-guided phototherapy with deep penetration and high spatiotemporal resolution. It is very appealing to obtain NIR-II fluorescent probes through simple procedures and economical substrates. Herein, we developed a D-A-D structure NIR-II photosensitizer (Triphenylamine modified Aza-Bodipy, TAB) based on the strong electron-withdrawing nature of borane difluoride azadipyrromethene’s center(aza-BODIPY). Subsequently, halogen atoms (Br, I) are introduced to the TAB molecule, TAB-2Br and TAB-2I were synthesized. DFT calculations demonstrated the twisted conformations of the TABs, which would effectively prevent π–π stacking in the aggregate state, to restrain the aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ). Compared to the TAB molecule, significant redshifts in emission wavelength, ultra-large Stokes shift (>360 nm), and enhanced singlet oxygen production capacity were acquired for the halogenated molecules. After encapsulated by an amphiphilic polypeptide POEGMA 23-PAsp20 there formed nanoparticles via self-assembly, and the obtained P-TAB, P-TAB-2Br and P-TAB-2I nanoparticles possessed excellent water solubility and biocompatibility, remarkable photothermal conversion efficiency (beyond 40%), good resistance to photobleaching, heat, and H2O2. Under 808 nm laser irradiation, the P-TAB-2Br exhibited efficient NIR-II fluorescence emission, and the abdominal vessel of the mouse could be clearly distinguished from the surrounding background tissue. In vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that P-TABs display excellent cell lethality and tumor ablation results under 808 nm irradiation. All of these results make the TABs potential organic probes for clinical NIR-II fluorescence imaging and cancer phototherapy.

Enhanced drug retention by anthracene crosslinked nanocomposites for bimodal imaging-guided phototherapy.

Efficient drug delivery, multifunctional combined therapy and real-time diagnosis are the main hallmarks in the exploitation of precision nanomedicine. Herein, an anthracene-functionalized micelle containing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent, upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) and the photosensitizer IR780 is designed to achieve sustained drug release and enhanced photothermal and photodynamic therapy. The polymer-coated hybrid micelle was achieved by crosslinking anthracene-dimer with UV light (λ> 300 nm), which is converted from near-infrared (NIR) irradiation upon UCNPs. Besides, the water-insoluble photosensitizer IR780 is introduced into the system to achieve efficient drug delivery and photothermal and photodynamic synergistic therapy. As a consequence of NIR-induced anthracene-dimer formation, the cross-linked nanocomposite shows sustained drug release, and the enhanced retention effect of IR780 could increase the photothermal conversion efficiency. Importantly, the incorporation of 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidineoxyl (TEMPO) as a nitroxide MRI contrast agent presents the potential for real-time diagnosis via nanotheranostics, and the fluorescence imaging of IR780 is applied to monitor drug distribution and metabolism. This strategy of sustained drug delivery by anthracene-dimer formation through the better penetration depth of NIR-II fluorescence provides an executable platform to achieve enhanced phototherapy in biomedical applications.

Lysosome-Targeted Gold Nanotheranostics for In Situ SERS Monitoring pH and Multimodal Imaging-Guided Phototherapy.

The integration of surface-enhanced Raman spectrum (SERS) and fluorescence-photoacoustic multimodal imaging in near-infrared photothermal therapy is highly desirable for cancer theranostic. However, typically, gold nanotheranostics usually require an additional modification of fluorophores and complex design refinements. In this work, by integrating surface-modified cysteine-hydroxyl merocyanine (CyHMC) molecules onto AuNRs, a novel lysosome-targeted gold-based nanotheranostics AuNRs-CyHMC that combines the specificity of Raman spectrum, the speed of fluorescence imaging, and deep penetration of photoacoustic imaging was successfully fabricated. Interestingly, fluorescence and Raman signals in this AuNRs-CyHMC system do not interfere, but it has pH-sensitive Raman signals and self-fluorescence localization ability under different excitation wavelengths. Fluorescence co-localization experiments further confirmed the lysosome-targeting ability of AuNRs-CyHMC. Typically, the proposed nanotheranostics were capable of SERS monitoring pH changes in both phosphate-buffered saline and living cells. Meanwhile, in vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that AuNRs-CyHMC possessed excellent fluorescence-photoacoustic performance and could be used for multimodal imaging-guided photothermal therapy. Furthermore, our work implied that gold nanotheranostics can provide great potential for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Lanthanide-semiconductor probes for precise imaging-guided phototherapy and immunotherapy

Abstract Objective: Immunotherapy is an effective tumor treatment strategy. However, its long treatment cycle limits its wide application across all cancer types. In this study, we optimized upconversion nanoparticles and manganese composite particles with a porous structure as a nanoplatform for synergistic photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT), and subsequent longer-term immunotherapy. Methods: The morphology, phase, and stability were first characterized to evaluate the biocompatibility of this material. The upconversion and near infrared II luminescence properties of the material and its stimuli-response effect were assessed from the absorbance and photoluminescence spectra. Phototherapy including PDT and PTT was demonstrated in vitro and in vivo, and immunotherapy was used to enhance the phototherapy. This study was approved by the School of Pharmacy's Ethics Committee of Tumor Hospital of Shaanxi Province, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China (approval No. XJTULAC2020-585) on April 2, 2020. Results: The nanoplatform showed good PDT and PTT effects with high upconversion luminescence, and exhibited a more sensitive glutathione response (detection limit: 55 μg/mL) using fluorescence recovery than that based on absorbance recovery, with the detection range extending up to 1.2 mg/mL. When the surface of the composite particles was modified with an anti-PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, it targeted A549 lung cancer cells. The resulting immune response enhanced the long-term anti-tumor effect of the therapy, especially in lung cancer patients with high PD-L1 expression. Conclusion: The designed composite can be simultaneously used to detect the glutathione concentration based on luminescence recovery in the tumor cells and as a theranostic nanoplatform for synergistic immuno-phototherapy when combined with an antibody.

MAGE-Targeted Gold Nanoparticles for Ultrasound Imaging-Guided Phototherapy in Melanoma.

Gold nanorods exhibit a wide variety of applications such as tumor molecular imaging and photothermal therapy (PTT) due to their tunable optical properties. Several studies have demonstrated that the combination of other therapeutic strategies may improve PTT efficiency. A method called optical droplet vaporization (ODV) was considered as another noninvasive imaging and therapy strategy. Via the ODV method, superheated perfluorocarbon droplets can be vaporized to a gas phase for enhancing ultrasound imaging; meanwhile, this violent process can cause damage to cells and tissue. In addition, active targeting through the functionalization with targeting ligands can effectively increase nanoprobe accumulation in the tumor area, improving the sensitivity and specificity of imaging and therapy. Our study prepared a nanoparticle loaded with gold nanorods and perfluorinated hexane and conjugated to a monoclonal antibody (MAGE-1 antibody) to melanoma-associated antigens (MAGE) targeting melanoma, investigated the synergistic effect of PTT/ODV therapy, and monitored the therapeutic effect using ultrasound. The prepared MAGE-Au-PFH-NPs achieved complete eradication of tumors. Meanwhile, the MAGE-Au-PFH-NPs also possess significant ultrasound imaging signal enhancement, which shows the potential for imaging-guided tumor therapy in the future.

Black phosphorus nanophototherapeutics with enhanced stability and safety for breast cancer treatment

The severe issues facing conventional therapies for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), such as poor response rate and side effects, calls for new strategies to realize better prognosis. Owing to the merits of good efficacy, safety and facile implementation, phototherapy represents an attractive modality for this goal. Black phosphorus (BP) is a class of novel interesting materials for biomedical uses with advantages of biodegradability and optical activity. However, its stability, safety and biological performance remained to be further optimized. In this work, we report a novel light-responsive nanosystem, named Cy@HBPN, for fluorescence imaging-guided synergistic photothermal and photodynamic therapy (PTT/PDT) against TNBC. Hyaluronic acid was coated onto NIR dye(cypate)-loaded BPN, resulting in favorable stability, excellent delivery efficiency into tumor cells and photothermal and photodynamic potential. Importantly, the safety profile of HBPN was greatly improved, compared to the counterpart without HA coating. Following NIR irradiation, localized generation of singlet oxygen and hyperthermia by Cy@HBPN had a significant antitumor effect against both 4T1 cell monolayers and 3D organoids in vitro. Additionally, Cy@HBPN showed significantly enhanced accumulation in tumor tissue and subsequently promoted light-triggered tumor ablation in a mouse model of TNBC. Taken together, this study demonstrates that novel nanophototherapeutics with great stability and safety profile such as Cy@HBPN represent a promising platform for imaging-guided phototherapy for breast cancer treatment.

Effective nanotherapeutic approach for metastatic breast cancer treatment by supplemental oxygenation and imaging-guided phototherapy

Metastasis remains the primary cause for mortality of breast cancer. Despite advances in current therapeutic agents, patients with metastatic breast cancer still have poor prognoses. Tumor hypoxia, a key microenvironment factor, is emerging as an attractive target to prevent metastasis and is also involved with resistance to phototherapy. Here, we show an effective nanotherapeutic approach based on manganese dioxide-coated polydopamine nanocarriers to trigger robust anti-tumor and anti-metastasis responses against metastatic breast cancer by supplemental oxygenation and multimodal imaging-guided phototherapies. In cancer cells, the produced oxygen by the developed nanoplatform decreases the expression of hypoxia-inducible factors 1\ga to inhibit tumor metastasis, and enhances the efficacy of photodynamic therapy. This nanotherapeutic approach enables the combined photodynamic/photothermal treatments with great inhibition on cell migration and invasion in vitro. Moreover, the nanotherapeutics effectively suppresses primary tumor progress and inhibits lung metastasis in vivo in a breast cancer mouse model with satisfying biosafety. This study suggests that the tumor hypoxia-targeting nanotherapeutics have great potential for preventing and treating metastatic cancers.

Carbon nanocage-based nanozyme as an endogenous H2O2-activated oxygenerator for real-time bimodal imaging and enhanced phototherapy of esophageal cancer.

Intelligent phototherapy by theranostic nanosystems that can be activated by a tumor microenvironment has high sensitivity and specificity. However, hypoxia and low drug accumulation in tumors greatly limit its clinical application. Herein, we have designed a cage-like carbon-manganese nanozyme, which effectively relieves tumor hypoxia and delivers numerous photosensitizers (PSs) to the tumor site, for real-time imaging and enhanced phototherapy of esophageal cancer. Specifically, bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as a template and reducing agent for preparing a BSA-MnO2 nanozyme; then a BSA-MnO2/IR820@OCNC (BMIOC) nanosystem was successfully synthesized by crosslinking BSA-MnO2 on the surface of IR820-loaded carboxylated carbon nanocages (OCNCs). Abundant PSs were successfully delivered to tumor sites via hollow OCNCs, and the final loading rate of IR820 reached 42.8%. The intratumor BMIOC nanosystem can be initiated by a tumor microenvironment to switch on its magnetic resonance (MR) imaging signal, and photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) functions. Notably, the BSA-MnO2 nanozyme, with intrinsic catalase (CAT)-like activity, catalyzed endogenous H2O2 for oxygen generation to overcome tumor hypoxia and enhance PDT, thereby leading to more efficient therapeutic effects in combination with OCNC-elevated PTT. In addition, the H2O2-activated and acid-enhanced properties enable our nanosystem to be specific to tumors, protecting normal tissues from damage. By integrating a high drug loading capacity, a hypoxia regulation function, an enlarged phototherapy effect, and bimodal imaging into a nanozyme-mediated nanoreactor, this work realizes a "one for all" system and represents promising clinical translation for efficient esophageal cancer theranostics.

Self-assembled CeVO4/Au heterojunction nanocrystals for photothermal/photoacoustic bimodal imaging-guided phototherapy.

Phototherapy, including photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT), has attracted great attention because it can effectively inhibit the proliferation and propagation of cancer cells. Recently, heterojunction nanomaterials have shown tremendous application value in the field of biological medicine. In this work, the CeVO4/Au heterojunction nanocrystals (NCs) are designed for photothermal/photoacoustic bimodal imaging-guided phototherapy. The as-synthesized hydrophobic oleic acid (OA)-stabilized CeVO4 nanosheets were modified with HS-PEG-OH for translating into hydrophilic ones, which can significantly improve their stability and biocompatibility. Subsequently, the plasmonic Au nanoparticles were in situ successfully deposited on the surface of HS-PEG-coated CeVO4 to form CeVO4/Au heterojunction NCs for improving the visible and near-infrared light absorption, which results in enhanced photothermal conversion performance and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation capacity. Thus, the CeVO4/Au can cause more severe damage to cancer cells than pure CeVO4 under NIR laser irradiation. Also, CeVO4/Au can provide distinct tumor contrast by photothermal/photoacoustic bimodal bioimaging. Our results demonstrate that CeVO4/Au NCs could be used as an effective theranostic anticancer agent for near-infrared (NIR) light-mediated PTT and PDT.

A facile strategy to realize a single/double photon excitation-dependent photosensitizer for imaging-guided phototherapy against HeLa cancer cells at separate irradiation channels.

A novel difluoroboron fluorophore with an electron donor-acceptor conjugated structure was synthesized with 26.5% fluorescence quantum yield, 18 035 GM two-photon absorbing cross-section, and undetectable two-photon fluorescence, resulting in 25% 1O2 quantum yield. The unique optical behavior of CNFBBN enabled one-photon fluorescence imaging and two-photon phototherapy against HeLa cancer cells, irradiated at separate wavelengths.

Correction: A facile strategy to realize a single/double photon excitation-dependent photosensitizer for imaging-guided phototherapy against HeLa cancer cells at separate irradiation channels.

Correction for 'A facile strategy to realize a single/double photon excitation-dependent photosensitizer for imaging-guided phototherapy against HeLa cancer cells at separate irradiation channels' by Lin Kong et al., Chem. Commun., 2020, 56, 571-574.