Imaging-guided Photothermal Cancer Therapy Research Articles

Ultra-pH-sensitive indocyanine green-conjugated nanoprobes for fluorescence imaging-guided photothermal cancer therapy

Photothermal therapy (PTT) has been recognized as a promising approach for cancer treatment due to its minimal invasiveness and low systemic side effects. However, developing a photothermal agent with accurate tumor imaging capability is a prerequisite for the efficient PTT. Here, we developed a series of ultra-pH-sensitive indocyanine green (ICG)-conjugated nanoparticles for fluorescence imaging-guided tumor PTT. These nanoparticles exhibited high fluorescence activation ratio (~100-fold) with sharp pH transition (ΔpHon/off <0.25), and superior temperature response than free ICG. The in vivo imaging experiments demonstrated that the nanoparticles generated excellent tumor-to-normal tissue contrast through pH-triggered fluorescence activation in tumor sites, which provided information on tumor mass location, boundaries, and shape. Moreover, comparing to free ICG, the nanosystem had significantly longer blood circulation time and more accurate tumor targeting, providing efficient photothermal therapeutic effect against A549 tumor in living animals. In conclusion, this nanoplatform offers a potential strategy for imaging-guided cancer PTT.

Magnetically targeted nanoparticles for imaging-guided photothermal therapy of cancer.

Over the past several decades, nanocarriers have constituted a vital research area for accurate tumor therapy. Herein, magnetically targeted nanoparticles (IRFes) for photothermal therapy were generated by integrating IR780, a molecule with strong emission and absorption in the NIR spectrum and the ability to produce heat after laser irradiation, with Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs). These IRFes were guided to the tumor site by the application of an external magnetic field. In particular, the strong NIR absorption of IR780 was used for NIRF imaging, and we also demonstrated effective magnetic targeting for the photothermal ablation of tumors. In vitro cell viability and in vivo antitumor experiments showed that these IRFes can ablate 4T1 cells or transplanted 4T1 cell tumors when exposed to 808 nm laser irradiation and a magnetic field. In vivo experiments showed that IRFes only act on tumors, do not damage other organs and can be used to image tumors. These results demonstrate the enormous potential of local photothermal therapy for cancer under the guidance of external magnetic fields and reveal the prospect for the use of multifunctional nanoparticles in tumor therapy.

Gadolinium-Chelated Conjugated Polymer-Based Nanotheranostics for Photoacoustic/Magnetic Resonance/NIR-II Fluorescence Imaging-Guided Cancer Photothermal Therapy.

Our exploiting versatile multimodal theranostic agent aims to integrate the complementary superiorities of photoacoustic imaging (PAI), second near-infrared (NIR-II, 1000-1700) fluorescence and T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with an ultimate objective of perfecting cancer diagnosis, thus improving cancer therapy efficacy. Herein, we engineered and prepared a water-soluble gadolinium-chelated conjugated polymer-based theranostic nanomedicine (PFTQ-PEG-Gd NPs) for in vivo tri-mode PA/MR/NIR-II imaging-guided tumor photothermal therapy (PTT).Methods: We firstly constructed a semiconducting polymer composed of low-bandgap donor-acceptor (D-A) which afforded the strong NIR absorption for PAI/PTT and long fluorescence emission to NIR-II region for in vivo imaging. Then, the remaining carboxyl groups of the polymeric NPs could effectively chelate with Gd3+ ions for MRI. The in vitro characteristics of the PFTQ-PEG-Gd NPs were studied and the in vivo multimode imaging as well as anti-tumor efficacy of the NPs was evaluated using 4T1 tumor-bearing mice.Results: The obtained theranostic agent showed excellent chemical and optical stability as well as low biotoxicity. After 24 h of systemic administration using PQTF-PEG-Gd NPs, the tumor sites of living mice exhibited obvious enhancement in PA, NIR-II fluorescence and positive MR signal intensities. Better still, a conspicuous tumor growth restraint was detected under NIR light irradiation after administration of PQTF-PEG-Gd NPs, indicating the efficient photothermal potency of the nano-agent.Conclusion: we triumphantly designed and synthesized a novel and omnipotent semiconducting polymer nanoparticles-based theranostic platform for PAI, NIR-II fluorescence imaging as well as positive MRI-guided tumor PTT in living mice. We expect that such a novel organic nano-platform manifests a great promise for high spatial resolution and deep penetration cancer theranostics.

A polydopamine-coated LAPONITE®-stabilized iron oxide nanoplatform for targeted multimodal imaging-guided photothermal cancer therapy.

The development of theranostic nanoplatforms with accurate diagnosis and effective therapy performance is crucial for precision medicine applications. Herein, we developed a novel targeted theranostic nanoplatform for magnetic resonance (MR) and photoacoustic (PA) imaging-guided photothermal therapy of cancer cells overexpressing sialic acid (SA). Firstly, LAPONITE® (LAP)-stabilized Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) with a high r2 relaxivity were synthesized by a coprecipitation method, and then polydopamine (PDA) was coated to improve the photothermal effect and PA contrast effect, followed by the modification of PEGylated phenylboronic acid (PEG-PBA) to introduce tumor-targeting specificity into SA-overexpressed cancer cells. The formed LAP-Fe3O4@PDA-PEG-PBA NPs show excellent biocompatibility and photothermal conversion efficiency under near-infrared laser irradiation and are able to be used for dual modal MR/PA imaging of a xenografted tumor model and induce complete eradication of tumors after NIR laser treatment. In summary, LAP-Fe3O4@PDA-PEG-PBA NPs could be theranostic nanoplatforms for sensitive MR/PA imaging and effective photothermal therapy of SA-overexpressed tumors.

Silicon nanowires decorated with gold nanoparticles via in situ reduction for photoacoustic imaging-guided photothermal cancer therapy

Photothermal therapy (PTT) in the first near-infrared (NIR-I) window has made great progress in the treatment of solid tumors, while only a few PTT agents in the second NIR (NIR-II) region have been studied.

Pyrrolopyrrole aza-BODIPY near-infrared photosensitizer for dual-mode imaging-guided photothermal cancer therapy.

A NIR photosensitizer pyrrolopyrrole aza-BODIPY (PPAB) was synthesized in a straightforward manner. Through the use of PPAB NPs as a photothermal agent, photoacoustic imaging (PAI) and NIR fluorescence imaging (NIR-FI) can be achieved in vivo. In addition, the photothermal ablation of tumor cells can be realized both in vitro and in vivo, even at a low concentration (0.5 mg kg-1).

Total Aqueous Synthesis of Au@Cu2-x S Core-Shell Nanoparticles for In Vitro and In Vivo SERS/PA Imaging-Guided Photothermal Cancer Therapy.

Both accurate tumor navigation and nanostructures with high photothermal (PT) conversion efficiency are important but remain challenging to achieve in current biomedical applications. This study reports an anion exchange-based facile and green approach for synthesizing Au@Cu2-x S core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) in an aqueous system. In addition to the PT effect of the suggested NPs, the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is also significantly improved due to the tailored localized surface plasmon resonance coupling between the Au metal core and the Cu2-x S semiconductor shell. Using an epitaxial strategy, Au@Cu2 O NPs are first obtained by the in situ reduction of cupric hydroxide on a cresyl violet acetate-coated Au core; then, Au@Cu2-x S NPs are obtained via anion exchange between the S2- and Cu2 O shell. Both the Cu/S atomic ratio and the Cu2-x S shell thickness can be adjusted conveniently. Hence, the ideal integration of the plasmonic Au core and Cu2-x S shell into a single unit is conducive not only to highly efficient PT conversion but also to the construction of a SERS-based navigator. This new type of SERS-guided NP, with enhanced photoacoustic signals, is an important candidate for both accurate tumor navigation and nondestructive PT treatment guided in vivo by two modes of optical imaging.

Multifunctional GQDs-Coated Fe/Bi Nanohybrids for CT/MR Dual Imaging and in vitro Photothermal Therapy

Introduction: The multipurpose nanocomposites have gained growing biomedical attention as promising nanotheranostics to improve The effectiveness of cancer treatment, which concurrently combine advantages of the therapeutic and diagnostic techniques into one nanosystem. The “all-in on” probes not only help to ablate cancerous tumors, but also allow to optimize and monitoring of treatment. Materials and Methods: iron/bismuth nanohybrid was synthesized in presence of graphene quantum dots for the co-integration of diagnostic and therapeutic functions into a single nanoprobe (referred to as GQDs-Fe/Bi NPs). Then, for further applications, blood compatibility and cytotoxicity, as important tissues, of different concentration of GQDs-Fe/Bi NPs were investigated by hemolysis test and MTT test, respectively. A 1.5 T MRI scanner (Siemens Avanto- Germany) was employed to measure MR contrast ability of GQDs-Fe/Bi NPs with various concentrations of Fe. In additional, the phantom CT images were taken at the various concentrations of the Bi and iodine using a clinical CT scanner (GE HiSpeed) at operating voltages of 80,120 and 140 kVp. The acquired images were analyzed with imageJ software. To study the photothermal performance, the GQDs-Fe/Bi NPs suspension with a series of concentrations of active Bi metal were exposed to a NIR laser (808 nm, 1.7 W ・cm−2) for 10 min. Results: Such theranostic agent not only shows strong near-infrared (NIR) absorbance, but also offers high contrast for X-ray computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to the imaging-guided NIR laser irradiation deliver and selectively heating of tumor. Fe3O4 component involved in the hybrid showed the good magnetization property (48.59 emu/g) with excellent performance on magnetic resonance imaging and high relaxivity time (62.34 mM−1 s−1). Synergistically, the presence of the Bi component with high atomic number (Z=83) in the GQDs-Fe/Bi nanohybrid offered high- X-ray contrast for CT imaging. Furthermore, thanks to the high photothermal conversion efficiency of 31.88%, co-delivery of GQDs-Fe/Bi NPs and NIR-radiation can effectively kill the cancer cells. Conclusion: the high theranostic performance of GQDs-Fe/Bi NPs can simultaneously use for CT/MR imaging-guided cancer photothermal therapy purposes.

Sub-10 nm Cu5FeS4 cube for magnetic resonance imaging-guided photothermal therapy of cancer.

BackgroundFacile synthesis and small size theranostic agents have shown great potential for cancer diagnosis and treatment.PurposeA ternary compound (Cu5FeS4), Fe doped copper sulfide, with novel magnetic properties and strong near-infrared absorption was prepared for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) imaging guided photothermal therapy of cancer.Patients and methodsFirstly, the capability of magnetic resonance imaging based on the novel magnetic properties and the photothermal performance due to the strong near-infrared absorption was investigated in vitro. Then, the magnetic resonance imaging guided photothermal therapy for 4T1 tumor-bearing mouse was carried out.ResultsThe Cu5FeS4 cube with good T1-weighted MRI, excellent photothermal performance and low cytotoxicity has been investigated. More importantly, the T1-weighted MRI for 4T1 tumor-bearing mouse will get the best contrast effect at tumor site after 8 h of intravenous injection of Cu5FeS4 cube. Under the guidance of the T1-weighted MRI, the PTT was carried out at 8 h after intravenous injection of Cu5FeS4 cube and only the group combined intravenous administration of Cu5FeS4 cube and laser irradiation nearly cured the tumor after 14 days.ConclusionOur study not only provides a new material for personalized treatment of tumors, but also further promotes potential applications of the cancer theranostic agents.

Nitroxide-radicals-modified gold nanorods for in vivo CT/MRI-guided photothermal cancer therapy.

PurposeThis article presents a report of the synthesis, characterization, and biomedical application of nitroxide-radicals–modified gold nanorods (Au-TEMPO NRs) for imaging-guided photothermal cancer therapy.Patients and methodsAu nanorods were synthesized through seed-mediated growth method, 4-Amino-TEMPO was added and the reaction proceeded under magnetic stirring.ResultsWith a mean length of 39.2 nm and an average aspect ratio of approximately 3.85, Au-TEMPO NRs showed good photothermal ability when they were irradiated by 808-nm laser. Au-TEMPO NRs could be stored in PBS for more than 1 month, showed no cytotoxicity against both tumor and normal cells at a concentration of up to 3 mg/mL, and functioned as a dual-mode contrast agent for CT/magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in vitro and in vivo, due to their high X-ray attenuation of Au and good r1 relaxivity of nitroxide radicals. Further, they had a long retention time (~4 hours) in the main organs, which enabled a long CT/MR imaging time window for diagnosis. Bio-distribution results revealed that these Au-TEMPO NRs passively aggregated in the liver and spleen. After irradiation by 808-nm laser, Au-TEMPO NRs could ablate the solid tumor in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice, which implied they were a potential theranostic agent for dual-mode imaging and photothermal cancer therapy.ConclusionThis type of Au-TEMPO NRs with the abilities of CT/MR imaging and photothermal therapy, can play an active role in imaging-guided photothermal cancer therapy.

A novel Met-IR-782 near-infrared probe for fluorescent imaging-guided photothermal therapy in breast cancer.

In this work, a novel photothermal agent based on methionine (Met) was synthesized, which shows strong absorbance in the near infrared ray (NIR) region and is available for NIR imaging and in vivo photothermal therapy in a mouse model. Comparing to free IR-782, the obtained Met modified fluorescent dye (Met-IR-782) exhibited excellent fluorescence stability, preferable photothermal conversion efficiency under 780nm laser irradiation and specific targeting to MCF7 (human breast adenocarcinoma cell line) cells. The fluorescence imaging ability enabled in situ monitoring of the tumor accumulation of Met-IR-782. The photothermal cytotoxicity assays in vitro and photothermal therapy treatments in vivo indicated that Met-IR-782 could efficiently target and suppress the growth of MCF7 xenograft tumors. Hence, Met-IR-782 is a potential fluorescent agent for NIR imaging-guided cancer photothermal therapy in clinical application. This work highlights the prospect of using light absorbing agents for NIR imaging-guided photothermal therapy.

Facile synthesis of plasmonic zein nanoshells for imaging-guided photothermal cancer therapy

We demonstrate facile and green synthesis of gold deposited zein nanoshells (AuZNS) using environmental benign solvent ethanol. Water soluble glycol chitosan is used for stabilization as well as for cationic functionalization of zein nanoparticles. Gold deposition is performed via ex-situ method at ambient conditions. AuZNS is of size around 100 nm and shows high inertness and biocompatibility even at double the therapeutic dosage. The absorbance is tuned at 808 nm for imaging-guided plasmonic photothermal therapy of cancer. Highly effective killing of cancer cells irrespective of their chemorefractory status is noticed at a very low therapeutic dosage of 25 μg and 5 min of biologically acceptable (500 mW) 808 nm laser irradiation. AuZNS also exhibit better X-ray attenuation in comparison to the commercially available iodine based contrast agent.

Hyperthemia-Promoted Cytosolic and Nuclear Delivery of Copper/Carbon Quantum Dot-Crosslinked Nanosheets: Multimodal Imaging-Guided Photothermal Cancer Therapy.

Copper-containing nanomaterials have been applied in various fields because of their appealing physical, chemical, and biomedical properties/functions. Herein, for the first time, a facile, room-temperature, and one-pot method of simply mixing copper ions and sulfur-doped carbon dots (CDs) is developed for the synthesis of copper/carbon quantum dot (or CD)-crosslinked nanosheets (CuCD NSs). The thus-obtained CuCD NSs with the size of 20-30 nm had a high photothermal conversion efficiency of 41.3% and good photothermal stability. Especially, after coating with thiol-polyethylene glycol and fluorescent molecules, the resultant CuCD NSs could selectively target tumor tissues and realize multimodal (photoacoustic, photothermal, and fluorescence) imaging-guided cancer therapy. More importantly, our CuCD NSs exhibited laser-triggered cytosolic delivery, lysosomal escape, and nuclear-targeting properties, which greatly enhanced their therapeutic efficacy. The significantly enhanced tumor accumulation of CuCD NSs after in situ tumor-site laser irradiation was also observed in in vivo experiments. These in vitro and in vivo events occurring during the continuous laser irradiation have not been observed. Overall, this work develops a CD-assisted synthetic method of photothermal nanoagents for triple-modal imaging-guided phototherapy and deepens our understanding of the action mechanism of photothermal therapy, which will promote the development of nanomedicine and beyond.

Turning double hydrophilic into amphiphilic: IR825-conjugated polymeric nanomicelles for near-infrared fluorescence imaging-guided photothermal cancer therapy.

Developing biocompatible and photodegradable photothermal agents (PTAs) holds great promise for potential clinical applications in photothermal cancer therapy. Herein, a new PTA was innovatively constructed by conjugating the hydrophobic near-infrared (NIR) heptamethine cyanine molecule IR825-NH2 with a double hydrophilic block copolymer methoxypoly(ethylene glycol)5k-block-poly(l-aspartic acid sodium salt)10 (abbreviated as PEG-PLD) via amine-carboxyl reaction. The as-designed PEG-PLD(IR825) was amphiphilic and could self-assemble into polymeric nanomicelles in aqueous solutions. Benefiting from the chemical conjugation strategy, PEG-PLD(IR825) nanomicelles realized a considerably high drug loading rate (∼21.0%) and substantially avoided the premature release of IR825 during systemic circulation. Confocal imaging revealed that the nanomicelles mainly located at mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum after cellular internalization. In vitro photothermal therapy demonstrated the excellent cancer killing efficiency of PEG-PLD(IR825) nanomicelles due to their high light-to-heat conversion efficiency upon NIR laser irradiation. In addition, PEG-PLD(IR825) nanomicelles showed polarity-sensitive fluorescence at ∼610 nm (under 552 nm excitation) and 830 nm (under 780 nm excitation), which was especially useful for both in vitro visible fluorescence imaging and in vivo near-infrared fluorescence imaging-guided photothermal therapy (PTT). At the in vivo level, PEG-PLD(IR825) nanomicelles exhibited an excellent tumor-homing ability and a long retention time in tumor tissues as evidenced by the in vivo fluorescence imaging results. The desirable properties of PEG-PLD(IR825) nanomicelles ensured their effective tumor ablation during PTT treatment. More importantly, the PEG-PLD(IR825) nanomicelles underwent degradation after laser irradiation, which ensured their post-treatment biosafety. Therefore, the nanomicelles are promising to serve as an efficient and safe PTA for imaging-guided photothermal cancer therapy.

Degradable rhenium trioxide nanocubes with high localized surface plasmon resonance absorbance like gold for photothermal theranostics

The applications of inorganic theranostic agents in clinical trials are generally limited to their innate non-biodegradability and potential long-term biotoxicity. To address this problem, herein via a straightforward and tailored space-confined on-substrate route, we obtained rhenium trioxide (ReO3) nanocubes (NCs) that display a good biocompatibility and biosafety. Importantly, their aqueous dispersion has high localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorbance in near-infrared (NIR) region different from previous report, which possibly associates with the charge transfer and structural distortion in hydrogen rhenium bronze (HxReO3), as well as ReO3's cubic shape. Such a high LSPR absorbance in the NIR region endows them with photoacoustic (PA)/infrared (IR) thermal imaging, and high photothermal conversion efficiency (∼57.0%) for efficient ablation of cancer cells. Also, ReO3 NCs show X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging derived from the high-Z element Re. More attractively, those ReO3 NCs, with pH-dependent oxidized degradation behaviors, are revealed to be relatively stable in hypoxic and weakly acidic microenvironment of tumor for imaging and treatment whilst degradable in normal physiological environments of organs to enable effective clearance. In spite of their degradability, ReO3 NCs still possess tumor targeting capabilities. We thus develop a simple but powerful, safe and biodegradable inorganic theranostic platform to achieve PA/CT/IR imaging-guided cancer photothermal therapy (PTT) for improved therapeutic efficacy and decreased toxic side effects.

Bioresponsive Polyoxometalate Cluster for Redox-Activated Photoacoustic Imaging-Guided Photothermal Cancer Therapy.

Although various types of imaging agents have been developed for photoacoustic (PA) imaging, relatively few imaging agents exhibit high selectivity/sensitivity to the tumor microenvironment for on-demand PA imaging and therapy. Herein, molybdenum-based polyoxometalate (POM) clusters with the highest oxidation state of Mo(VI) (denoted as Ox-POM) were designed as novel agents for redox-activated PA imaging-guided photothermal therapy. Capable of escaping from recognition and capture by the liver and spleen, these renal clearable clusters with ultrasmall size (hydrodynamic size: 1.9 nm) can accumulate in the tumor, self-assemble into larger nanoclusters at low pH, and are reduced to NIR absorptive agents in the tumor microenvironment. Studies in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice indicated that these clusters could be employed for bioresponsive PA imaging-guided tumor ablation in vivo. Our finding is expected to establish a new physicochemical paradigm for the design of PA imaging agents based on clusters, bridging the conventional concepts of "molecule" and "nano" in the bioimaging field.

Plasmonic titanium nitride nanoparticles for invivo photoacoustic tomography imaging and photothermal cancer therapy.

Titanium nitride, an alternative plasmonic material to gold with unique physiochemical properties, has been widely used in microelectronics, biomedical devices and food-contact applications. However, its potential application in the area of biomedicine has not been effectively explored. With the spectral match of their plasmon resonance band and the biological transparency window as well as good biocompatibility, titanium nitride nanoparticles (TiN NPs) are promising photoabsorbing agents for photothermal therapy (PTT) and photoacoustic imaging. Nevertheless, the photothermal performance of TiN NPs has not been investigated until now. Here, we presented the investigation of employing TiN NPs as photoabsorbing agents for invivo photoacoustic tomography (PAT) imaging-guided photothermal cancer therapy. Our experimental results showed that TiN NPs could strongly absorb the NIR light and provided up to 48% photothermal conversion efficiency. After PEGylation, the resultant nanoparticles demonstrated improved physiological stability and extensive blood retention. Following intravenously administration, they could simultaneously enhance the photoacoustic signals of the tumor region and destroy tumors in the tumor-bearing mouse model by taking advantage of the photothermal effect of the TiN NPs. Our findings highlighted the great potential of plasmonic TiN NPs in detection and treatment of cancer.

Self-quenched ferrocenyl diketopyrrolopyrrole organic nanoparticles with amplifying photothermal effect for cancer therapy.

Organic nanoparticles (NPs) with near-infrared absorbance possess high photothermal conversion (PTC) efficiency and an excellent photoacoustic signal, presenting a great prospect for photoacoustic imaging (PAI)-guided photothermal therapy (PTT). Herein, a novel diketopyrrolopyrrole derivative (DPPCN-Fc) is synthesized for use as a PTT agent with PAI performance. Due to photo-induced electron transfer (PET), the two flanked ferrocene moieties significantly quench the radiative decay and intersystem crossing process, resulting in an enhanced nonradiative transition, and an amplifying photothermal effect is observed. Exposing the DPPCN-Fc NP aqueous dispersion (100 μg mL-1) to 730 nm (1.0 W cm-2) laser radiation results in a temperature elevation of 33.4 °C within 10 min and the PTC efficiency reaches up to 59.1%, which is higher than most reported photothermal therapeutic agents. Furthermore, under irradiation from 730 nm lasers, cancer cells could be completely killed in vivo due to the amplifying photothermal effects. Therefore, the as-prepared DPPCN-Fc NPs are a promising cancer theranostic agent for photoacoustic imaging-guided cancer photothermal therapy.

Indocyanine green-loaded polydopamine-iron ions coordination nanoparticles for photoacoustic/magnetic resonance dual-modal imaging-guided cancer photothermal therapy.

Multi-modal imaging-guided cancer photothermal therapy (PTT) with advanced theranostic nanoagents can efficiently improve therapeutic efficacy and reduce treatment side effects. Herein, we have developed a theranostic nanoagent based on indocyanine green (ICG)-loaded polydopamine (PDA)-iron ions coordination nanoparticles (PDA-Fe3+-ICG NPs), which are used for photoacoustic (PA) and magnetic resonance (MR) dual-modal imaging-guided cancer PTT treatments. In this nanoplatform, ICG molecules, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved near-infrared (NIR) dye, absorbing on PDA NPs (a melanin-like biopolymer) to significantly increase the NIR optical absorption of PDA NPs nearly 6 times and decreases their fluorescence emission, which can improve the PA contrast ability and promote the photothermal conversion efficiency of PDA NPs. Meanwhile, Fe3+ ions chelated on the PDA NPs act as a T1-weighted MRI contrast agent (r1 = 14 mM-1 s-1). In a mouse 4T1 breast tumor model, PA/MRI dual-modal imaging and highly efficient PTT treatments with low laser density were achieved with remarkable therapeutic efficiency and minimal side effects. This study illustrates that the highly integrated and biocompatible PDA-based NPs can serve as a versatile nanoplatform by loading different imaging molecules and drugs for multi-modal imaging and cancer combination therapy.

Gadolinum Complex-Modified Polypyrrole Nanorods for Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Infrared Thermal Imaging-Guided Photothermal Therapy of Cancer

Gadolinum Complex-Modified Polypyrrole Nanorods for Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Infrared Thermal Imaging-Guided Photothermal Therapy of Cancer