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It is of vital importance to engineer the surface structures of carbon dots (CDs) to satisfy their practical biomedical applications, including imaging and treatment. In this work, one type of hyaluronic acid-derived CD (HA-CD) was synthesized via a facile one-step hydrothermal method using cancer cell-targeted HA as a precursor. The as-prepared HA-CDs were targeted actively toward CD44 receptor-overexpressing cancer cells because a partial HA structure remained on the HA-CD surface. Beyond this, HA-CDs can act as a novel photosensitizer, because they can generate O2Ṗ− under 650 nm laser irradiation, and they also exhibit excellent blue photoluminescence emission. The in vitro results revealed that HA-CDs imaged selectively CD44-overexpressing cancer cells and inhibited their growth under 650 nm laser irradiation. Thus, HA-CDs can serve as a promising self-targeted imaging-guided photodynamic therapy (PDT) agent for cancer. The present research provides a promising new method to simply construct multifunctional CD-based targeted phototheranostic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the development of supercharged fluorescent protein modified water-soluble poly(N-phenylglycine) nanoparticles (SPNPG/ScGFP) as a novel nanotheranostic agent with highly effective cell penetration for image-guided photothermal cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of advanced phototherapy systems with high therapeutic efficacy toward cancer and low side effects, especially targeted species, is highly desirable. Herein, we developed one kind of water-soluble hyaluronic acid–hybridized polyaniline nanoparticles (HA–PANI NPs) as a nanoplatform for photothermal therapy (PTT) with targeted specificity of a CD44-mediated cancer cell. The water-soluble HA–PANI NPs were fabricated by one-step oxidative polymerization using aniline as a polymerizable monomer and HA as a stabilizer and targeted agent, where non-covalent electrostatic interaction between the negatively charged polymer HA and the cationic polymer PANI drives the formation of HA–PANI NPs. It was demonstrated that approximately spherical HA–PANI NPs are well-dispersed in aqueous solutions, with average hydrodynamic diameters of around 100 nm. Besides, HA–PANI NPs have negligible cytotoxicity in vitro, which facilitates biomedical applications with low toxicity. We studied the in vitro photothermal cell-killing efficacy of HA–PANI NPs by MTT assay and confocal microscopy measurement. The results reveal that HA–PANI NPs can selectively kill the cancer cells of HeLa and HCT-116 cells rather than normal cells of HFF cells upon exposure to a NIR 808 nm laser. The efficient intracellular intake of the HA–PANI NPs by both HeLa and HCT-116 cells are observed, confirming their targeting ability for CD44-overexpressing cancer cells. Furthermore, the results of in vivo photothermal ablation of tumors show excellent treatment efficacy, indicating that the HA–PANI NPs can be considered as an extremely promising nanoplatform for targeted PTT of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tumor immunosuppressive microenvironment (TIME) and uncontrollable release of antigens can lower the efficacy of nanovaccine-based immunotherapy (NBI). Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new strategy for TIME reshaping and controllable release of antigens to improve the NBI efficacy. Herein, an acidity-responsive Schiff base-conjugated polyphenol-coordinated nanovaccine was constructed for the first time to realize bidirectional TIME reshaping and controllable release of antigens for activating T cells. In particular, an acidity-responsive tannic acid-ovalbumin (TA-OVA) nanoconjugate was prepared via a Schiff base reaction. Fe III was coordinated with TA-OVA to produce a Fe III -TA-OVA nanosystem, and 1-methyltryptophan (1-MT) as an indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase inhibitor was loaded to form a polyphenol-coordinated nanovaccine. The coordination between Fe III and TA could cause photothermal ablation of primary tumors, and the acidity-triggered Schiff base dissociation of TA-OVA could controllably release OVA to realize lysosome escape, initiating the body's immune response. More importantly, oxidative stress generated by a tumor-specific Fenton reaction of Fe ions could promote the polarization of tumor-associated macrophages from the M2 to M1 phenotype, resulting in the upregulation of cytotoxic T cells and helper T cells. Meanwhile, 1-MT could downregulate immunosuppressive regulatory T cells. Overall, such skillful combination of bidirectional TIME reshaping and controllable antigen release into one coordination nanosystem could effectively enhance the NBI efficacy of tumors.

Second near-infrared (NIR-II) window responsive phototheranostic agents have a precise spatiotemporal potential for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. In this study, a full-spectrum responsive ZrO 2 -based phototheranostic agent was found to achieve NIR-II photoacoustic (PA) imaging-guided tumour-targeting phototherapy. Initially, the ZrO 2 -based phototheranostic agent was fabricated through NaBH 4 reduction to form boron-doped oxygen-deficient zirconia (ZrO 2-x -B), an amino-functionalised SiO 2 shell and a further covalent connection with hyaluronic acid (HA), namely, ZrO 2-x -B@SiO 2 -HA. In the ZrO 2-x -B@SiO 2 -HA system, the oxygen vacancy and boron doping resulted in full-spectrum absorption, enabling a high NIR-II photothermal conversion, high-resolution PA imaging ability and a remarkable production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The surface modification of HA provided ZrO 2-x -B@SiO 2 -HA with water dispersibility and a targeting capability for CD44 overexpressed cancer cells. Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that NIR-II activated ZrO 2-x -B@SiO 2 -HA had a targeted photothermal/photodynamic effect for cancer elimination under the real-time guidance of NIR-II PAs. Hence, ZrO 2-x -B@SiO 2 -HA displays a precise NIR-II radiation-activated phototheranostic potential for PA imaging-guided cancer-targeting photothermal/photodynamic therapy.

In this paper, we present a new and facile one-step method for the fabrication of a water-soluble graphene-phthalocyanine (GR-Pc) hybrid material by simply sonicating GR with a hydrophilic Pc, tetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt copper phthalocyanine (TSCuPc). In the resultant hybrid material, TSCuPc is coated on the skeleton of pristine GR via non-covalently π-π interaction, detailedly characterized by UV-vis/Raman spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), etc. The obtained GR-Pc hybrid (GR-TSCuPc) is applied for photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT). In this PTT/PDT system, both GR and TSCuPc operate as multifunctional agents: GR acts as a photosensitizer carrier and PTT agent, while TSCuPc acts as a hydrophilic PDT agent. Furthermore, the results of cell viability show that the phototherapy effect of GR-TSCuPc is observably higher than that of free TSCuPc, indicating that combined noninvasive PTT/PDT exhibits better anti-cancer efficacy in vitro. Such results highlight that this work provide a facile method to develop efficacious dual-modality carbon nanoplatform for developing cancer therapeutics.