Smart CU1.75S nanocapsules with high and stable photothermal efficiency for NIR photo-triggered drug release

Thermosensitive drug delivery systems （DDSs） face major challenges, such as remote and repeatable control of in vivo temperature, although these can increase the therapeutic efficacy of drugs. To address this issue, we coated near- infrared （NIR） photothermal Cu175S nanocrystals with pH/thermos-sensitive polymer by in situ polymerization. The doxorubicine （DOX） loading content was up to 40 wt.%, with less than 8.2 wt.% of DOX being leaked under normal physiological conditions （pH = 7.4, 37 ~C） for almost 48 h in the absence of NIR light. These nanocapsules demonstrate excellent photothermal stability by continuous long- term NIR irradiation. Based on the stable and high photothermal efficiency （55.8%）, pre-loaded drugs were released as desired using 808-nm light as a trigger. Both in vitro and in vivo antitumor therapy results demonstrated that this smart nanoplatform is an effective agent for synergistic hyperthermia-based chemotherapy of cancer, demonstratin~ remote and noninvasive control.

Superfluorinated copper sulfide nanoprobes for simultaneous 19F magnetic resonance imaging and photothermal ablation

Copper sulfide （Cu7S4） nanoparticles coated with an ultra-high payload （N5.0 ~ 107 fluorine atoms per particle） of fluorinated ligands （oleylamine functionalized 3,5-bis（trifluoromethyl）benzaldehyde, 19FOAm） exhibited a single intense 19F magnetic resonance （MR） signal and efficient near infrared photothermal performance in water medium. In vivo assessment revealed strong 19F MR signals at cancerous lesions and effective inhibition of tumor growth after photothermal treatment, indicating the great potential of these fabricated nanoprobes for simultaneous 19F MR imaging and photothermal therapy.

A boronic acid-based fluorescent hydrogel for monosaccharide detection

A boronic acid-based anthracene fluorescent probe was functionalised with an acrylamide unit to incorporate into a hydrogel system for monosaccharide detection.In solution,the fluorescent probe displayed a strong fluorescence turn-on response upon exposure to fructose,and an expected trend in apparent binding constants,as judged by a fluorescence response where D-fructose>D-galactose>D-mannose>D-glucose.The hydrogel incorporating the boronic acid monomer demonstrated the ability to detect monosaccharides by fluorescence with the same overall trend as the monomer in solution with the addition of D-fructose resulting in a 10-fold enhancement(≤0.25 mol/L).

One-Pot Aqueous Synthesis of Highly Biocompatible Near Infrared CulnS2 Quantum Dots for Target Cell Imaging

In this study, we report a novel and facile autoclave strategy for synthesis of near-infrared （NIR） CulnS2 QDs by employing glutathione （GSH） as capping ligand and stabilizer in aqueous media under 100 ~C. Various experi- mental parameters including the ratio of precursors, reaction time, reaction temperature, pH effect and stability have been systematically studied. The QDs were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, transmission electron micro- scope （TEM）, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FT-IR）. The as-synthesized NIR QDs exhibited low cytotoxicity and maintained excellent cell viability even up to 100 gg/mL. After bioconjugation with Arg-Gly-Asp （RGD） peptide, the obtained CulnS2-RGD QDs have demonstrated high targeting ability with good fluorescence cell imaging performance.

A visual photothermal paper sensor for H_2S recognition through rational modulation LSPR wavelength of plasmonics

It is known that the localized surface plasmon resonance(LSPR) wavelength of plasmonics is highly dependent on compositions and geometry of plasmonics as well as the surrounding environments. Here, monodispersed Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles(Au@Ag NPs) were prepared by carefully optimizing the shell thickness of Au@Ag NPs, and the presence of hydrogen sulfide(H_2 S) would significantly alter the LSPR wavelength. On the basis of this, a photothermal paper sensor for on-site recognition of H_2 S was constructed with a visual detection limit of 12.8 ng/L.

Organic Nanoprobes for Fluorescence and ^19F Magnetic Resonance DuaI-Modality Imaging

Multimodal imaging techniques have been demonstrated to be greatly advantageous in achieving accurate diagnosis and gained increasing attention in recent decades. Herein, we present a new strategy to integrate the complementary modalities of I9F magnetic resonance imaging （19F MRI） and fluorescence imaging （FI） into a polymer nanoprobe composed of hydrophobic fluorescent organic core and hydrophilic fluorinated polymer shell. The alkyne-terminated fluorinated copolymer （Pn） of 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl acrylate （TFEA） and poly（ethylene glycol） methyl ether acrylate （PEGA） was first prepared vie atom transfer radical polymerization （ATRP）. The PEGA plays an important role in both improving ^19F signal and modulating the hydrophilicity of Pn. The alkynyl tail in Pn is readily conjugated with azide modified tetra-phenylethylene （TPE） through click chemistry to form azo polymer （TPE-azo-Pn）. The core-shell nanoprobes （TPE-P3N） with an average particle size of 57.2±8.8 nm are obtained via self-assembly with ultrasonication in aqueous solution. These nanoprobes demonstrate high water stability, good biocompatibility, strong fluorescence and good ^19F MRI performance, which present great potentials for simultaneous fluorescence imaging and ^19F-MR imaging.