SERS/NIR‐II Optical Nanoprobes for Multidimensional Tumor Imaging from Living Subjects, Pathology, and Single Cells and Guided NIR‐II Photothermal Therapy

• Published in: Advanced functional materials Vol. 32; no. 46
• Main Authors: He, Jian, Hua, Shiyuan, Zhang, Dongxiao, Wang, Kai, Chen, Xiaoyuan, Zhou, Min
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.11.2022
• Subjects: Ablation; cancer imaging; Fluorescence; Histology; In vivo methods and tests; Infrared lasers; Materials science; Medical imaging; Near infrared radiation; NIR‐II fluorescence imaging; NIR‐II photothermal therapy; Photothermal conversion; Quantum dots; Raman imaging; Raman spectra; Sensitivity enhancement; Silver; single‐cell imaging; Therapy; Tumors
• ISSN: 1616-301X; 1616-3028
• DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202208028

Molecular imaging‐guided precision photothermal therapy has shown tremendous potential for invasively thermal ablation with solid tumors. However, it is still a pressing clinical need to develop precise and deep‐tissue multi‐scale imaging technologies easily integrated into a single system to boost accurate photothermal treatments. Herein, a SERS/NIR‐II optical nanoprobe assembled by gold nanostars, Raman molecular tags, and silver sulfide quantum dots through silica bridges (named AuDAg2S) is reported that allows the combination of the fingerprint‐style surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging and second region near‐infrared (NIR‐II) in‐depth biological fluorescence imaging. It can also yield strong localized surface plasmon resonance for a satisfactory photothermal conversion efficiency of 67.1% at 1064 nm to effectively kill CT26 colon cancer cells. Moreover, the AuDAg2S nanoprobes can enhance the detection sensitivity up to the picomolar level and increase the depth of the NIR‐II fluorescence signal up to 1 cm under the excitation of the near‐infrared laser. As a result, the AuDAg2S nanoprobes can achieve multidimensional tumor imaging in levels of living subjects, histology, and single cell, and further guided deep NIR‐II photothermal anti‐tumor therapy in vivo. This study offers a promising approach for SERS/NIR‐II whole optical imaging for deep tumor photothermal treatment in future clinical applications. Sensitive and depth compatible optical AuDAg2S nanoprobes, integrating surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy imaging, and second region near‐infrared (NIR‐II) fluorescence imaging, are developed for multidimensional tumor imaging, which can detect tumors from living subjects, pathology, and even single cells, and further amplify the therapeutic effect of the NIR‐II deeper photothermal therapy.