金纳米复合材料:制备、性质及其癌症诊疗应用

由于可调的局域表面等离子体共振、丰富的表面可修饰性、良好的生物相容性,金纳米粒子(AuNPs)在生物医药领域具有广泛的应用前景。金与其他无机纳米粒子相结合,既集成了单个组分的性质又有望开发组分间的协同效应,这为构建多功能金纳米复合材料提供了基础。本文阐述了金纳米复合材料的制备方法,包括一步合成法,种子生长法及非原位组装法等;对近期金纳米复合材料在癌症诊疗方面的应用进行总结;最后,讨论了多功能金纳米诊疗平台存在的主要问题及未来发展前景。     

Engineering the Protein Corona Structure on Gold Nanoclusters Enables Red-Shifted Emissions in the Second Near-infrared Window for Gastrointestinal Imaging

The application of NIR-II emitters for gastrointestinal (GI) tract imaging remains challenging due to fluorescence quenching in the digestive microenvironment. Herein, we report that red-shifting of the fluorescence emission of Au nanoclusters (AuNCs) into NIR-II region with improved quantum yields (QY) could be achieved by engineering a protein corona structure consisting of a ribonuclease-A (RNase-A) on the particle surfaces. RNase-A-encapsulated AuNCs (RNase-A@AuNCs) displayed emissions at 1050 nm with a 1.9 % QY. Compared to rare earth and silver-based NIR-II emitters, RNase-A@AuNCs had excellent biocompatibility, showing >50-fold higher sensitivity in GI tract, and migrated homogenously during gastrointestinal peristalsis to allow visualization of the detailed structures of the GI tract. RNase-A@AuNCs could successfully examine intestinal tumor mice from healthy mice, indicating a potential utility for early diagnosis of intestinal tumors.     

Ag+-Coupled Black Phosphorus Vesicles with Emerging NIR-II Photoacoustic Imaging Performance for Cancer Immune-Dynamic Therapy and Fast Wound Healing

A silver-ion-coupled black phosphorus (BP) vesicle (BP Ve-Ag⁺) with a second near infrared (NIR-II) window photoacoustic (PA) imaging capability was firstly constructed to maximize the potential of BP quantum dot (QD) in deeper bioimaging and diversified therapy. The embedded Ag⁺ could improve the relatively large band gap of BP QD via intense charge coupling based on theoretical simulation results, subsequently leading to the enhanced optical absorption capability, accompanied with the occurrence of the strong NIR-II PA signal. Guiding by NIR-II PA bioimaging, the hidden Ag⁺ could be precisely released with the disassembly of Ve during photodynamic therapy process and captured by macrophages located in lesion region for arousing synergistic cancer photodynamic/Ag⁺ immunotherapy. BP Ve-Ag⁺ can contrapuntally kill pathogenic bacteria and accelerate wound healing monitored by NIR-II PA imaging.     

石墨碳纳米材料光学性质在生化传感领域的应用

石墨碳纳米材料因其特殊的光学性质而受到广泛关注。石墨碳纳米材料最引人注目的光学性质之一是其独特的拉曼性质,作为拉曼探针,石墨碳纳米材料在对于复杂生物样品,极端测试条件和定量拉曼检测方面都有很好的应用;除了拉曼性质以外,单壁碳纳米管(SWNTs)独特的近红外二区(NIR-II,1000-1700 nm)荧光性质,具有穿透深度大、分辨率高的荧光成像特点,在生物活体成像领域也得到了很好的应用。除了光致发光特性,石墨碳纳米材料还具有优异的光热转换效应,同时具有比表面积大的特点,被广泛应用在针对肿瘤的热疗及其它疗法协同治疗当中。除此之外,石墨碳纳米材料还是一种高效的信号传导基底,可以猝灭激发态的染料和光敏剂,利用该类性质设计的生物传感器和纳米药物,显现出高灵敏、高选择性的特点。本文主要结合本课题组的工作,总结和探讨了石墨碳纳米材料作为光学探针、光热材料和信号传递基底在生化传感领域的应用。     

In vivo Self-assembled Peptide Nanoprobes for Disease Diagnosis

In vivo imaging is creating great opportunities for disease diagnosis as a research tool. Probes are usually used to observe physiological structures in vivo clearly. Recent progresses of nanoprobes are important for the generation of high resolution and high contrast images required by accurate and precision disease diagnosis. In vivo self-assembled peptide(SAP) nanoprobes are playing major roles in in vivo imaging by modularity of design, high imaging contrast, response to the location of the lesion, and long-time retention in the lesion. And the response to lesion and long-term retention in there can enhance imaging sensitivity and specificity of in vivo SAP nanoprobes. Therefore, in vivo SAP nanoprobes are simple ancillary contrast entities to optimize the imaging effect. In this review, the recent progress of in vivo SAP nanoprobes for in vivo imaging, from molecular design of peptides to biomedical and clinical applications including disease diagnosis and disease-related molecular imaging is systematically summarized. We evaluate their ability, including sensitivity and specificity to provide relevant information under preoperative and during surgery circumstances and critically their likelihood to be clinically translated. Finally, a brief outlook on remaining challenges and potential directions for future research in this area is presented.     

Organic Nanocrystals Based on a Solid-emission-tunable AIEgen for Cell Imaging

The development of fluorescent nanocrystals based on organic small molecules is of great importance in bioimaging due to the merits of easy modification,high brightness and excellent photostability,however suffering from the emission-detrimental aggregation-caused quenching(ACQ)effect.Herein,we successfully designed and synthesized an AIE-active di(N,N-dimethylaniline)-dibenzofulvene(named as NFTPE),which exhibits the crystallization-induced emission enhancement(CIEE)effect.Interestingly,two types of yellow-and orange-emissive crystals for NFTPE were obtained,exhibiting aggregation microenvironment-dependent emission tuning in the solid state.Single-crystal analysis and density functional theory(DFT)calculations reveal that different aggregation microenvironments result in the distinct molecular conformation for various emission.Excitingly,the crystallization of NFTPE in an aqueous solution under the assistance of amphiphilic PEG polymer matrices could be monitored in situ by the fluorescence changes,facilitating the preparation of NFTPE nanocrystals(NFTPE-NCs)by adjusting the aggregation microenvironment.The obtained NFTPE-NCs exhibit the superior performance in cell imaging in respect to high brightness,photostability,and biocompatibility,thus demonstrating the potential in bioimaging applications.     

二维层状钴铁双氢氧化物用于癌症协同光治疗

癌症的光子疗法是一种选择性治疗新技术,近几年得到迅猛的发展,该疗法拥有创伤小、选择性好且毒性低、无耐药性等优点。 我们采用水热合成法制备了一种新型的层状钴铁双氢氧化物纳米片(Co-Fe-LDH),利用其具有较大比表面积、稳定高、生物相容性好等的特点,负载光敏剂IR783(LDH-IR783),在近红外激光的刺激下实现癌症的光热光动力协同光治疗。 对所合成的Co-Fe-LDH进行了组成、形貌、光学性质、活性氧(ROS)生成、热量释放等表征,并在细胞及活体水平进行抗癌测试。 实验结果表明,所制备的纳米复合物具有稳定的结构、高IR783负载率以及良好的分散性,并且,在近红外光源照射下表现出优异的光热/光动力效应,能够快速产生大量的活性氧,迅速地释放热量,产生显著的光毒性,能够有效地诱导HeLa细胞的凋亡。 体内抗癌实验表明,所制备的纳米复合物有效地抑制了实体肿瘤的生长,并且未对正常组织产生明显的损伤,毒副作用较低。 这些初步结果将为光热/光动力协同纳米粒子的设计和应用提供新的思路。     

Bacteriochlorophyll-a as photosensitizer for photodynamic treatment of transplantable murine tumors.

Bacteriochlorophyll-a (bChla), which absorbs light of 780 nm wavelength, was tested for in vivo photodynamic activity in the SMT-F and RIF transplantable mouse tumor systems. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of tissue extracts showed that bChla was rapidly degraded in vivo to bacteriopheophytin-a (bPheoa) and other breakdown products. These were also photodynamically active, and tumor response could be achieved over a wavelength range of 660 to 780 nm, while tumor cure was restricted to wavelengths of 755 (bPheoa) to 780 nm. A photosensitizing product absorbing at 660 nm was also present in isolated tumor cells. Photodynamic cell kill of tumor cells isolated from tumors after bChla accumulation in vivo, using 755 or 780 nm light _vitro, was exponential up to 20–40 J cm⁻². Above this light dose little or no further damage could be achieved, which is an indication of the rapid photobleaching of these sensitizers. In vivo, vascular occlusion occurred readily if light treatment was delivered shortly after sensitizer administration, but was delayed if light treatment was carried out 24 h after injection. Although up to 70% of tumor cells were lethally damaged after completion of in vivo light treatment, concurrent severe vascular destruction seemed necessary for tumor cure. Normal tissue photosensitivity totally subsided within 5 days after sensitizer administration.     

A Class of Activatable NIR-II Photoacoustic Dyes for High-Contrast Bioimaging

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is emerging as one of the important non-invasive imaging techniques in biomedical research. Small molecule- second near-infrared window (NIR-II) PA dyes combined with imaging data can provide comprehensive and in-depth in vivo physiological and pathological information. However, the NIR-II PA dyes usually exhibit “always-on” properties due to the lack of a readily optically tunable group, which hinders the further applications in vivo. Herein, a novel class of dyes GX have been designed and synthesized as an activatable NIR-II PA platform, in which the absorption/emission wavelength of GX-5 extends up to 1082/1360 nm. Importantly, the GX dyes have a strong tissue penetration depth and high-resolution for the mouse vasculature structures in NIR-II PA 3D imaging and high signal-to-noise ratio in NIR-II fluorescence (FL) imaging. Furthermore, to demonstrate the applicability of GX dyes, the first NIR-II PA probe GX-5-CO activated by carbon monoxide (CO) was engineered and employed to reveal the enhancement of the CO levels in the hypertensive mice by high-contrast NIR-II PA and FL imaging. We expect that many derivatives of GX dyes will be developed to afford versatile NIR-II PA platforms for designing a wide variety activatable NIR-II PA probes as biomedical tools.     

Photo-responsive NIR-II biomimetic nanomedicine for efficient cancer-targeted theranostics

In pancreatic cancer, the special barrier system formed by a large number of stromal cells severely hinders drug penetration in deep tumor tissues, resulting in low treatment efficiency. Cell membrane protein-camouflaged liposomal nanomedicines have cancer cell targeting abilities, whereas near-infrared two-zone (NIR-II) fluorescence imaging can achieve deep tissue penetration due to its long light wavelength (1,000–1,700 nm). To combine the cell membrane-based biomimetic technology with NIR-II fluorescence imaging, we constructed a biomimetic nanomedicine (BLIPO-I/D) by camouflaging indocyanine green-doxorubicin (ICG-DOX) liposomes with SW1990 pancreatic cancer cell membrane. The nanomedicine exhibited light-controlled DOX release and high pancreatic cancer treatment efficiency in vitro and in vivo. BLIPO-I/D showed the ability of targeted delivery of a large number of liposomes to pancreatic tumor tissues through homologous targeting of SW1990 cell membranes, which increased the NIR-II fluorescence imaging intensity. Irradiation of the liposomes taken up by pancreatic tumor tissues with near-infrared light (808 nm) triggered the rapid release of DOX from the liposomes, induced the photothermal and photodynamic effects of ICG, which exerted anti-tumor effects. Therefore, the fabricated biomimetic liposomal nanomedicine BLIPO-I/D is expected to achieve precise theranostics of pancreatic cancer.     

A Cyanine-based Liposomal Nanophotosensitizer for Enhanced Cancer Chemo-Photodynamic Therapy

Currently, chemotherapy is one of the most important treatment modalities for malignant tumors in the clinic, however, it exhibits some shortcomings, such as poor selectivity, limited efficacy and serious adverse effects. Therefore, synergistic therapy and accurate drug delivery at tumor sites become a promising strategy for achieving tumor eradication. Herein, a smart NIR fluorescence imaging-guided nanoliposome was fabricated by encapsulating a chemotherapeutic drug(doxorubicin, DOX), liposomes(L) and a near-infrared(NIR) photosensitizer(CY) to form L@CY@DOX, which could realize enhanced therapeutic efficacy of chemo-PDT in cancer therapy(PDT=photodynamic therapy). L@CY@DOX can induce mitochondrial apoptosis and produce severe toxicity at the cellular level, and L@CY@DOX can enrich in the tumor site, which significantly induces tumor death. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that L@CY@DOX exhibited great antitumor efficacy compared with each one of these monotherapies, indicating that the combination of chemotherapy and PDT possessed potential development prospects and is anticipated in clinical application.     

In situ Activatable Peptide-based Nanoprobes for Tumor Imaging

Owing to its excellent biological properties, peptide has been widely used in the design of nanoprobes capable of enhancing tumor imaging signals. In recent years, a number of peptide-based nanoprobes with strong loading capacity and great biocompatibility have been developed for precision tumor imaging by coupling peptide motifs with different imaging agents. It is worth noting that, compared with "always on" mode, the use of stimulus-mediated in situ activatable mode to design and control the self-assembly or nanostructure transformation of peptide-based nanoprobes in vivo can achieve the significant improvement of imaging efficiency. Herein, we summarize the recent progress of in situ activatable peptide-based nanoprobes for tumor imaging in diverse imaging modes, including magnetic resonance imaging(MRI), fluorescence imaging(FI), photoacoustic imaging(PAI), radionuclide imaging(RI) and multimodal imaging. Finally, we briefly prospect the challenges and potential development directions of this field.     

Structural and process controls of AIEgens for NIR-II theranostics

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) is a cutting-edge fluorescence technology, giving highly-efficient solid-state photoluminescence. Particularly, AIE luminogens (AIEgens) with emission in the range of second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 1000–1700 nm) have displayed salient advantages for biomedical imaging and therapy. However, the molecular design strategy and underlying mechanism for regulating the balance between fluorescence (radiative pathway) and photothermal effect (non-radiative pathway) in these narrow bandgap materials remain obscure. In this review, we outline the latest achievements in the molecular guidelines and photophysical process control for developing highly efficient NIR-II emitters or photothermal agents with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) attributes. We provide insights to optimize fluorescence efficiency by regulating multi-hierarchical structures from single molecules (flexibilization) to molecular aggregates (rigidification). We also discuss the crucial role of intramolecular motions in molecular aggregates for balancing the functions of fluorescence imaging and photothermal therapy. The superiority of the NIR-II region is demonstrated by fluorescence/photoacoustic imaging of blood vessels and the brain as well as photothermal ablation of the tumor. Finally, a summary of the challenges and perspectives of NIR-II AIEgens for in vivo theranostics is given.

Structural and process controls of NIR-II AIEgens realize manipulating of radiative (R) and nonradiative (NR) decay for precise theranostics.     

Single-molecule photosensitizers for NIR-II fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging guided precise anticancer phototherapy

It is ideal yet challenging to achieve precise tumor targeting and high-quality imaging guided combined photodynamic and photothermal therapy (PDT and PTT). In this study, we synthesized a series of D–π–A-type single-molecule photosensitizers (CyE-TT, CyQN-TT, and CyQN-BTT) based on quaternized 1,1,2-trimethyl-1H-benz[e]indoles as acceptors by introducing π-bridges to elongate their emission wavelength and triphenylamine as a donor to construct a twisted molecular conformation. We found that the ¹O₂ generation ability and the photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE) are directly correlated with the π-bridge between donors and acceptors in these molecules. When a 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole group as a π-bridge was introduced into CyQN-BTT, the singlet oxygen yield enhanced to 27.1%, PCE to 37.8%, and the emission wavelength was red-shifted to near-infrared II (NIR-II). Importantly, double-cationic CyQN-BTT displays structure-inherent cancer cell targeting ability instead of targeting normal cells. Consequently, relying on NIR-II fluorescence imaging (NIR-II FLI) and photoacoustic imaging (PAI) guided PDT and PTT, CyQN-BTT can accurately locate solid tumors in mice and effectively eliminate them with good biocompatibility and biosafety to normal tissues. This study provides insights into the design and development of a tumor-specific targeting multifunctional photosensitizer for precise cancer phototherapy.

An D–π–A-type single-molecule photosensitizer with structure-inherent cancer cell targeting ability was developed for NIR-II fluorescence imaging and photoacoustic imaging guided phototherapy to effectively eliminate tumors in mice.     

Chlorination-Mediated π–π Stacking Enhances the Photodynamic Properties of a NIR-II Emitting Photosensitizer with Extended Conjugation

NIR-II-emitting photosensitizers (PSs) have attracted great research interest due to their promising clinical applications in imaging-guided photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, it is still challenging to realize highly efficient PDT on NIR-II PSs. In this work, we develop a chlorination-mediated π–π organizing strategy to improve the PDT of a PS with conjugation-extended A-D-A architecture. The significant dipole moment of the carbon-chlorine bond and the strong intermolecular interactions of chlorine atoms bring on compact π–π stacking in the chlorine-substituted PS, which facilitates energy/charge transfer and promotes the photochemical reactions of PDT. Consequently, the resultant NIR-II emitting PS exhibits a leading PDT performance with a yield of reactive oxygen species higher than that of previously reported long-wavelength PSs. These findings will enlighten the future design of NIR-II emitting PSs with enhanced PDT efficiency.     

Rare-earth Doped Nanoparticles with Narrow NIR-II Emission for Optical Imaging with Reduced Autofluorescence

Fluorescence imaging in the second near-infrared region(900-1700 nm, NIR-II) with a high resolution and penetration depth due to the significantly reduced tissue scattering and autofluorescence has emerged as a useful tool in biomedical fields. Recently, many efforts have been devoted to the development of fluorophores with an emission band covering the long-wavelength end of NIR-II region(1500-1700 nm) to eliminate the autofluorescence. Alternatively, we believe imaging with a narrow bandwidth could also reduce the autofluorescence. As a proof of concept, NaYF₄:Yb,Nd@NaYF₄ downconversion nanoparticles(DCNPs) with sharp NIR-II emission were synthesized. The luminescence of DCNPs showed a half-peak width of 49 nm centered at 998 nm, which was perfectly matched with a (1000±25) nm bandpass filter. With this filter, we were able to retain most of the emissions from the nanoparticles, while the autofluorescence was largely reduced. After PEGylation, the DCNPs exhibited great performance for blood vessel and tumor imaging in living mice with significantly reduced autofluorescence and interference signals. This work provided an alternative way for the low-autofluorescence imaging and emphasized the importance of narrow emitting rare-earth doped nanoparticles for NIR-II imaging.     

Manipulating Host-Guest Charge Transfer of a Water-Soluble Double-Cavity Cyclophane for NIR-II Photothermal Therapy

Water-soluble small organic photothermal agents (PTAs) over NIR-II biowindow (1000–1350 nm) are highly desirable, but the rarity greatly limits their applications. Based on a water-soluble double-cavity cyclophane GBox-4⁴⁺ , we report a class of host–guest charge transfer (CT) complexes as structurally uniform PTAs for NIR-II photothermal therapy. As a result of its high electron-deficiency, GBox-4⁴⁺ can bind different electron-rich planar guests with a 1 : 2 host/guest stoichiometry to readily tune the CT absorption band that extends to the NIR-II region. When using a diaminofluorene guest substituted with an oligoethylene glycol chain, the host–guest system realized both good biocompatibility and enhanced photothermal conversion at 1064 nm, and was then exploited as a high-efficiency NIR-II PTA for cancer cell and bacterial ablation. This work broadens the potential applications of host–guest cyclophane systems and provides a new access to bio-friendly NIR-II photoabsorbers with well-defined structures.     

Bioapplications Manipulated by AIEgens with Nonlinear Optical Effect

The modern medicine requires precise diagnostic techniques while the fluorescent imaging shows great potential in such applications due to its excellent sensitivity and high resolution.However,conducting fluorescent imaging in deep-tissue is not so easy because most luminogens show short-wavelength excitation,which may undergo severe light scattering by the bio-tissue.The marriage of fluorescent imaging with nonlinear optical(NLO)effect can alleviate such adverse effects by utilizing NIR laser to reduce light scattering.On the other hand,scientists are enthusiastic in pursuing luminescent materials,which can match well with NLO application.Aggregation-induced emission(AIE)materials exhibit huge advantages in such aspect not only because of its high luminescent efficiency in aggregate state but also due to its excellent photo-stability(a key factor to meet laser application because of its ultrahigh energy density).Inspired by this,many interesting and meaningful works have sprung up based on AIE luminogens with NLO effect in recent years,and for such reason,it motivates us to summarize them to give a systematic presentation.Here,we first give a brief introduction of the principle of NLO effect.Secondly,the strategies for improving the NLO effect of AIE materials,such as increasing molecular conjugation,introduction of donor-acceptor effect,induction of centrally asymmetric array of AIE molecules in crystals and introduction of intermolecular interactions are clarified.In the final part,we also present the multiple applications of AIEgens with NLO effect in cell imaging,deep-tissue tumor and brain blood vessel imaging and photodynamic therapy.We believe,with this review,the topic will attract more attention from the scientists in multi-science field to accelerate the development of AIE materials in biomedical applications.     

稀土纳米材料在高分辨活体成像及诊疗中的应用

荧光成像具有时空分辨率高、 反馈快、 非侵入和无电离辐射等优点, 是一种重要的生物成像技术. 与传统用于荧光成像的可见光和近红外一区(NIR-I, 600~950 nm)相比, 近红外二区(NIR-Ⅱ, 1000~1700 nm)窗口具有低生物组织散射系数和低生物自发荧光, 采用NIR-Ⅱ光进行活体荧光成像能有效提高成像的分辨率、 信噪比和穿透深度. 稀土纳米颗粒(RENPs)具有大斯托克斯位移、 高化学稳定性、 可调的荧光寿命以及较窄的发射带, 是一种重要的荧光成像探针. 近年来, 一系列具有优异的NIR-Ⅱ发光性能的稀土纳米材料被用于高分辨活体荧光成像. 本文综合评述了近年来RENPs用于高分辨活体成像及诊疗中的研究进展, 概述了RENPs的掺杂调控、 基质晶格选择和复合敏化等NIR-Ⅱ发光增强策略, 介绍了其在多种生物医学场景中的靶向聚集、 荧光传感和疾病治疗等功能, 并总结了其在多路成像、 多模态成像和疾病诊疗中的应用. 最后, 简要分析了RENPs在未来生物医学应用中面临的挑战和发展的方向.     

An endogenous stimulus detonated nanocluster-bomb for contrast-enhanced cancer imaging and combination therapy

Exploitation of stimuli-responsive nanoplatforms is of great value for precise and efficient cancer theranostics. Herein, an in situ activable “nanocluster-bomb” detonated by endogenous overexpressing legumain is fabricated for contrast-enhanced tumor imaging and controlled gene/drug release. By utilizing the functional peptides as bioligands, TAMRA-encircled gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) endowed with targeting, positively charged and legumain-specific domains are prepared as quenched building blocks due to the AuNCs'' nanosurface energy transfer (NSET) effect on TAMRA. Importantly, the AuNCs can shelter therapeutic cargos of DNAzyme and Dox (Dzs-Dox) to aggregate larger nanoparticles as a “nanocluster-bomb” (AuNCs/Dzs-Dox), which could be selectively internalized into cancer cells by integrin-mediated endocytosis and in turn locally hydrolyzed in the lysosome with the aid of legumain. A “bomb-like” behavior including “spark-like” appearance (fluorescence on) derived from the diminished NSET effect of AuNCs and cargo release (disaggregation) of Dzs-Dox is subsequently monitored. The results showed that the AuNC-based disaggregation manner of the “nanobomb” triggered by legumain significantly improved the imaging contrast due to the activable mechanism and the enhanced cellular uptake of AuNCs. Meanwhile, the in vitro cytotoxicity tests revealed that the detonation strategy based on AuNCs/Dzs-Dox readily achieved efficient gene/chemo combination therapy. Moreover, the super efficacy of combinational therapy was further demonstrated by treating a xenografted MDA-MB-231 tumor model in vivo. We envision that our multipronged design of theranostic “nanocluster-bomb” with endogenous stimuli-responsiveness provides a novel strategy and great promise in the application of high contrast imaging and on-demand drug delivery for precise cancer theranostics.

An in situ activable “nanocluster-bomb” detonated by endogenous overexpressing legumain is fabricated for contrast enhanced cancer imaging and effective gene/chemo-therapy.