Hybrid graphene/Au activatable theranostic agent for multimodalities imaging guided enhanced photothermal therapy

Photothermal therapy (PTT) has been increasingly investigated. However, there are still challenges in strategies that can further enhance photoconversion efficiency and improve photothermal tumor ablation effect of current nanomaterials. Herein, we developed a fluorescent/photoacoustic imaging guided PTT agent by seeding Gold (Au) nanoparticles onto graphene oxide (GO). Near infrared dye (Cy5.5) labeled-matrix metalloproteinase-14 (MMP-14) substrate (CP) was conjugated onto the GO/Au complex (GA) forming tumor targeted theranostic probe (CPGA), whereCy5.5 fluorescent signal is quenched by Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) capacity from both GO and Au, yet it can boost strong fluorescence signals after degradation by MMP-14. The photothermal effect of GA hybrid was found significantly elevated compared with Au or GO alone. After intravenous administration of CPGA into SCC7 tumor-bearing mice, high fluorescence and PA signals were observed in the tumor area over time, which peaked at the 6 h time point (tumor-to-normal tissue ratio of 3.64 ± 0.51 for optical imaging and 2.5 ± 0.27 for PA imaging). The tumors were then irradiated with a laser, and an excellent tumor inhibition was observedwithoutrecurrence. Our studies further encourage applications of the hybrid nanocomposite for image-guided enhanced PTT in biomedical applications, especially in cancer theranostics.