Rational design of high performance nanotheranostics for NIR-II fluorescence/magnetic resonance imaging guided...

Nanotheranostics, which can provide great insight into cancer therapy, has been deemed as a promising technology to settle the unmet medical needs. The rational design of high performance nanotheranostics with multiple complementary imaging features and satisfactory therapeutic efficacy is particularly valuable. Herein, versatile nanotheranostic agents DPPB-Gd-I NPs were fabricated by using gadolinium-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid chelates and an iodine-decorated copolymer as encapsulation matrixes to encapsulate a polymer DPPB through one-step nanoprecipitation. We have demonstrated that such nanoagents are able to efficiently damage tumors under single dose injection and NIR laser illumination conditions due to the enhanced photodynamic therapy and enhanced photothermal therapy (the tumor inhibition rate was as high as 94.5%). Moreover, these nanoagents can be utilized as dual-modal NIR-II fluorescence/magnetic resonance imaging probes for tumor diagnosis with high sensitivity, deep tissue penetration, and excellent spatial resolution. Overall, this work offers a powerful tactic to fabricate high performance nanotheranostics for clinical application.