Multifunctional core-shell structured nanocarriers for synchronous tumor diagnosis and treatment in vivo.

Multifunctional, mesoporous, silica-coated upconversion luminescent/magnetic NaGdF4:Yb/Er@NaGdF4:Yb@mSiO2-PEG (referred to as UCNPS; PEG=polyethylene glycol) nanocomposites were fabricated through a phase-transfer-assisted surfactant-templating coating process, followed by hydrophilic polymer (PEG) functionalization to improve the stability and biocompatibility. The UCNP core imparts the nanomaterials with luminescence and magnetic properties for simultaneous upconversion optical and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, whereas the mesoporous shell affords the nanomaterials the ability to load the anticancer drug doxorubicin. Proof-of-principle in vitro and in vivo experiments are presented to demonstrate that the resultant composite nanomaterials can serve as nanotheranostics for synchronous upconversion luminescence/MR dual modal imaging and anticancer drug delivery; this finally realizes the integration of diagnostics and the treatment of cancers.

Chen YY ，Ma PA ，Yang DM ，Wu Y ，Dai YL ，Li CX ，Lin J ... -  《-》

Multifunctional upconversion mesoporous silica nanostructures for dual modal imaging and in vivo drug delivery.

Incorporating the agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), optical imaging, and therapy in one nanostructured matrix to construct multifunctional nanomedical platform has attracted great attention for simultaneous diagnostic and therapeutic applications. In this work, a facile methodology is developed to construct a multifunctional anticancer drug nanocarrier by combining the special advantages of upconversion nanoparticles and mesoporous silica. β-NaYF4 :Yb(3+) , Er(3+) @β-NaGdF4 :Yb(3+) is chosen as it can provide the dual modality of upconversion luminescence and MRI. Then mesoporous silica is directly coated onto the upconversion nanoparticles to form discrete, monodisperse, highly uniform, and core-shell structured nanospheres (labeled as UCNPs@mSiO2 ), which are subsequently functionalized with hydrophilic polymer poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) to improve the colloidal stability and biocompatibility. The obtained multifunctional nanocomposites can be used as an anticancer drug delivery carrier and applied for imaging. The anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) is absorbed into UCNPs@mSiO2 -PEG nanospheres and released in a pH-sensitive pattern. In vitro cell cytotoxicity tests on cancer cells verify that the DOX-loaded UCNPs@mSiO2 -PEG has comparable cytotoxicity with free DOX at the same concentration of DOX. In addition, the T1 -weighted MRI that measures in aqueous solutions reveals that the contrast brightening increases with the concentration of Gd(3+) component. Upconversion luminescence images of UCNPs@mSiO2 -PEG uptaken by cells show green emission under 980 nm infrared laser excitation. Finally, the nanocomposites show low systematic toxicity and high in vivo antitumor therapy efficacy. These findings highlight the fascinating features of upconversion-mesoporous nanocomposites as multimodality imaging contrast agents and nanocarrier for drug molecules.

Li C ，Yang D ，Ma P ，Chen Y ，Wu Y ，Hou Z ，Dai Y ，Zhao J ，Sui C ，Lin J ... -  《-》

Multifunctional NaYF4:Yb, Er@mSiO2@Fe3O4-PEG nanoparticles for UCL/MR bioimaging and magnetically targeted drug delivery.

Liu B ，Li C ，Ma P ，Chen Y ，Zhang Y ，Hou Z ，Huang S ，Lin J ... -  《-》

RGD peptide-conjugated multimodal NaGdF4:Yb3+/Er3+ nanophosphors for upconversion luminescence, MR, and PET imaging of tumor angiogenesis.

Lee J ，Lee TS ，Ryu J ，Hong S ，Kang M ，Im K ，Kang JH ，Lim SM ，Park S ，Song R ... -  《-》

Multifunctional Nd(3+)-sensitized upconversion nanomaterials for synchronous tumor diagnosis and treatment.

Chen Y ，Liu B ，Deng X ，Huang S ，Hou Z ，Li C ，Lin J ... -  《-》