Trojan Horse Phototheranostics: Fine-Engineering NIR-II AIEgen Camouflaged by Cancer Cell Membrane for Homologous-Targeting Multimodal Imaging-Guided Phototherapy

Multimodal phototheranostics on the basis of a single molecule with one-for-all characteristics represents a convenient approach for effective cancer treatment. In this report, a versatile molecule featured by aggregation-induced emission, namely DHTDP, synchronously enabling second near-infrared (NIR-II) fluorescence emission and efficient photothermal conversion is developed by elaborate structural modulation. By camouflaging DHTDP nanoparticles with cancer cell membrane, the resultant biomimetic nanoparticles exhibit significantly both facilitated delivery efficiency and homologous targeting capability, and afford precise imaging guidance and maximize therapeutic outcomes in form of NIR-II fluorescence imaging (FLI)-photoacoustic imaging (PAI)-photothermal imaging (PTI) trimodal imaging-guided photothermal therapy (PTT). This study presents the first example of biomimetic multimodal phototheranostics loaded by homogeneity-targeting cell membrane, thus brings a new insight into the exploration of superior phototheranostics for practical cancer theranostics.

Automated summary

This study successfully developed a versatile molecule DHTDP with aggregation-induced emission, which can simultaneously exhibit second near-infrared (NIR-II) fluorescence emission and efficient photothermal conversion. By camouflaging DHTDP nanoparticles with cancer cell membrane, the resultant biomimetic nanoparticles not only have facilitated delivery efficiency and homologous targeting capability, but also provide precise imaging guidance through NIR-II fluorescence imaging, photoacoustic imaging, and photothermal imaging. This study presents a new approach to explore superior phototheranostics for practical cancer theranostics using biomimetic multimodal phototheranostics loaded by homogeneity-targeting cell membrane.