Multifunctional hollow CaF2:Yb(3+)/Er(3+)/Mn(2+)-poly(2-Aminoethyl methacrylate) microspheres for Pt(IV) pro-drug delivery and tri-modal imaging.

Combining the multi-modal medical imaging with cancer therapy in one single system has attracted the great interests for theranostic purpose. In this paper, CaF2:Yb(3+)/Er(3+)/Mn(2+)-poly(2-Aminoethyl methacrylate) (UCHNs-PAMA) hybrid microspheres were successfully fabricated. The synthetic route to the nanocomposite based on a facile hydrothermal method for fabrication of hollow upconversion (UC) nanospheres at first and then post-filling the PAMA interiorly through photo-initiated polymerization. The UCHNs showed orange fluorescence under 980 nm near infrared (NIR) laser excitation, which provided the upconverting luminescence (UCL) imaging modality. Meanwhile, the presence of functional Mn(2+) and Yb(3+) offered the enhanced T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) and computed tomography (CT) imaging, respectively. Thanks to introducing amine groups-containing PAMA inside the hollow nanospheres, the Pt(IV) pro-drug, c,c,t-Pt(NH3)2Cl2(OOCCH2CH2COOH)2 (DSP), can be conveniently bonded on the polymer network to construct a nanoscale anti-cancer drug carrier. The UCHNs-PAMA-Pt(IV) nanocomposite shows effective inhibition for Hela cell line via MTT assay. In contrast, Pt(IV) pro-drug and UCHNs-PAMA microspheres behave little cytotoxicity to Hela cells. This should be attributed the fact that the anti-cancer ability can be recovered only when Pt(IV) pro-drug was reduced to Pt(II)-drug in cellular environment. Furthermore, the in vivo experiments on small mice also confirm that the hybrid microspheres have relatively low toxic side effects and high tumor inhibition rate. These findings show that the multifunctional hybrid microspheres have potential to be used as UCL/MR/CT tri-modal imaging contrast agent and anti-cancer drug carriers.

Deng X ，Dai Y ，Liu J ，Zhou Y ，Ma P ，Cheng Z ，Chen Y ，Deng K ，Li X ，Hou Z ，Li C ，Lin J ... -  《-》

Design of multifunctional alkali ion doped CaF2 upconversion nanoparticles for simultaneous bioimaging and therapy.

Yin W ，Tian G ，Ren W ，Yan L ，Jin S ，Gu Z ，Zhou L ，Li J ，Zhao Y ... -  《-》

Yb³⁺/Er³⁺-Codoped Bi₂O₃ Nanospheres: Probe for Upconversion Luminescence Imaging and Binary Contrast Agent for Computed Tomography Imaging.

Lei P ，Zhang P ，Yuan Q ，Wang Z ，Dong L ，Song S ，Xu X ，Liu X ，Feng J ，Zhang H ... -  《-》

Highly uniform α-NaYF4:Yb/Er hollow microspheres and their application as drug carrier.

Han Y ，Gai S ，Ma P ，Wang L ，Zhang M ，Huang S ，Yang P ... -  《-》

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 ... -  《-》