Two-Photon CQDs-Based Dual-Mode Nanoprobe for Fluorescence Imaging and Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Intracellular Wide pH

Programmable Intelligent DNA Nanoreactors (iDNRs) for in vivo Tumor Diagnosis and Therapy

With the rapid advancement of DNA technology, intelligent DNA nanoreactors (iDNRs) have emerged as sophisticated tools that harness the structural versatility and programmability of DNA. Due to their structural and functional programmability, iDNRs play an important and unique role in in vivo tumor diagnosis and therapy. This review provides an overview of the structural design methods for iDNRs based on advanced DNA technology, including enzymatic reaction-mediated and enzyme-free strategies. This review also focuses on how iDNRs achieve intelligence through functional design, as well as the applications of iDNRs for in vivo tumor diagnosis and therapy. In summary, this review summarizes current advances in iDNRs technology, discusses existing challenges, and proposes future directions for expanding their applications, which are expected to provide insights into the development of the field of in vivo tumor diagnostics and targeted therapies.

A bimodal time-gated luminescence-magnetic resonance imaging nanoprobe based on a europium(III) complex anchored on BSA-coated MnO2 nanosheets for highly selective detection of H2O2

A novel nanocomposite, [Eu(BTD)3(DPBT)]-BSA@MnO2, is reported to serve as an effective nanoprobe for bimodal time-gated luminescence (TGL) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of H2O2in vitro and in vivo. The nanoprobe was fabricated by immobilizing visible-light-excitable Eu3+ complexes in bovine serum albumin (BSA)-coated lamellar MnO2 nanosheets. The TGL of the Eu3+ complex was effectively quenched by the MnO2 nanosheets. Upon exposure to H2O2, the MnO2 nanosheets underwent reduction to Mn2+, which simultaneously triggered rapid, selective and sensitive "turn-on" responses toward H2O2 in both TGL and MR detection modes. The presence of a protective "corona" formed by BSA enables the nanoprobe to withstand high concentrations of glutathione (GSH), a strong reducing agent of MnO2 nanosheets. This capability allows the nanoprobe to be utilized for detecting H2O2 in living biosamples. The combined utilization of TGL and MR detection modes enables the nanoprobe to image H2O2 across a wide range of resolutions, from the subcellular level to the whole body, without any depth limitations. The results obtained from these modes can be cross-validated, enhancing the accuracy of the detection. The capability of the nanoprobe was validated by TGL imaging of endogenous and exogenous H2O2 in live HeLa cells, as well as bimodal TGL-MR imaging of H2O2 in tumor-bearing mice. The research achievements suggest that the integration of luminescent lanthanide complexes with protein-coated MnO2 nanosheets offers a promising bimodal TGL-MR sensing platform for H2O2in vitro and in vivo.

Dual-Mode Gold Nanocluster-Based Nanoprobe Platform for Two-Photon Fluorescence Imaging and Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging of Intracellular Endogenous miRNA

Bioimaging is widely used in various fields of modern medicine. Fluorescence imaging has the advantages of high sensitivity, high selectivity, noninvasiveness, in situ imaging, and so on. However, one-photon (OP) fluorescence imaging has problems, such as low tissue penetration depth and low spatiotemporal resolution. These disadvantages can be solved by two-photon (TP) fluorescence imaging. However, TP imaging still uses fluorescence intensity as a signal. The complexity of organisms will inevitably affect the change of fluorescence intensity, cause false-positive signals, and affect the accuracy of the results obtained. Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) is different from other kinds of fluorescence imaging, which is an intrinsic property of the material and independent of the material concentration and fluorescence intensity. FLIM can effectively avoid the fluctuation of TP imaging based on fluorescence intensity and the interference of autofluorescence. Therefore, based on silica-coated gold nanoclusters (AuNCs@SiO2) combined with nucleic acid probes, the dual-mode nanoprobe platform was constructed for TP and FLIM imaging of intracellular endogenous miRNA-21 for the first time. First, the dual-mode nanoprobe used a dual fluorescence quencher of BHQ2 and graphene oxide (GO), which has a high signal-to-noise ratio and anti-interference. Second, the dual-mode nanoprobe can detect miR-21 with high sensitivity and selectivity in vitro, with a detection limit of 0.91 nM. Finally, the dual-mode nanoprobes performed satisfactory TP fluorescence imaging (330.0 μm penetration depth) and FLIM (τave = 50.0 ns) of endogenous miR-21 in living cells and tissues. The dual-mode platforms have promising applications in miRNA-based early detection and therapy and hold much promise for improving clinical efficacy.

Building in biologically appropriate multifunctionality in aqueous copper indium selenide-based quantum dots

Advanced nanoplatforms equipped with different functional moieties for theranostics hold appealing promise for reshaping precision medicine. The reliable construction of an individual nanomaterial with intrinsic near-infrared (NIR) photofunction and magnetic domains is much desired but largely unexplored in a direct aqueous synthesis system. Herein, we develop an aqueous phase synthetic strategy for Mn2+ doping of ZnS shell grown on Zn-Cu-In-Se core quantum dots (ZCISe@ZnS:Mn QDs), providing the optimal NIR fluorescence quantum efficiency of up to 18.9% and meanwhile efficiently introducing paramagnetic domains. The relaxometric properties of the water-soluble Mn-doped QDs make them desirable for both the longitudinal and transverse (T1 and T2) magnetic resonance (MR) contrast enhancement due to the shell lattice-doped Mn2+ ions with slow tumbling rates and favoured spin-proton dipolar interactions with surrounding water molecules. Surprisingly, the incorporation of Mn2+ ions into the shell is found to significantly enhance the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by combining both the chemodynamic and photodynamic processes upon NIR light irradiation, showing great potential for efficient photo-assisted ablation of cancer cells. Furthermore, a broad-spectrum excitation range beneficial for bright NIR fluorescence imaging of breast cancer has been proven and offers high flexibility in the choice of incident light sources. Multiparametric MR imaging of the brain has also been successfully demonstrated in vivo.

Functional Nucleic Acid Probes Based on Two-Photon for Biosensing

Functional nucleic acid (FNA) probes have been widely used in environmental monitoring, food analysis, clinical diagnosis, and biological imaging because of their easy synthesis, functional modification, flexible design, and stable properties. However, most FNA probes are designed based on one-photon (OP) in the ultraviolet or visible regions, and the effectiveness of these OP-based FNA probes may be hindered by certain factors, such as their potential for photodamage and limited light tissue penetration. Two-photon (TP) is characterized by the nonlinear absorption of two relatively low-energy photons of near-infrared (NIR) light with the resulting emission of high-energy ultraviolet or visible light. TP-based FNA probes have excellent properties, including lower tissue self-absorption and autofluorescence, reduced photodamage and photobleaching, and higher spatial resolution, making them more advantageous than the conventional OP-based FNA probes in biomedical sensing. In this review, we summarize the recent advances of TP-excited and -activated FNA probes and detail their applications in biomolecular detection. In addition, we also share our views on the highlights and limitations of TP-based FNA probes. The ultimate goal is to provide design approaches for the development of high-performance TP-based FNA probes, thereby promoting their biological applications.

Recent Advances in the DNA-Mediated Multi-Mode Analytical Methods for Biological Samples

DNA-mediated nanotechnology has become a research hot spot in recent decades and is widely used in the field of biosensing analysis due to its distinctive properties of precise programmability, easy synthesis and high stability. Multi-mode analytical methods can provide sensitive, accurate and complementary analytical information by merging two or more detection techniques with higher analytical throughput and efficiency. Currently, the development of DNA-mediated multi-mode analytical methods by integrating DNA-mediated nanotechnology with multi-mode analytical methods has been proved to be an effective assay for greatly enhancing the selectivity, sensitivity and accuracy, as well as detection throughput, for complex biological analysis. In this paper, the recent progress in the preparation of typical DNA-mediated multi-mode probes is reviewed from the aspect of deoxyribozyme, aptamer, templated-DNA and G-quadruplex-mediated strategies. Then, the advances in DNA-mediated multi-mode analytical methods for biological samples are summarized in detail. Moreover, the corresponding current applications for biomarker analysis, bioimaging analysis and biological monitoring are introduced. Finally, a proper summary is given and future prospective trends are discussed, hopefully providing useful information to the readers in this research field.

An activatable nanoprobe based on nanocomposites of visible-light-excitable europium(III) complex-anchored MnO2 nanosheets for bimodal time-gated luminescence and magnetic resonance imaging of tumor cells

Bimodal imaging probes that combine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and photoluminescence imaging are quite appealing since they can supply both anatomical and molecular information to effectively ameliorate the accuracy of detection. In this study, an activatable nanoprobe, [Eu(BTD)₃(DPBT)]@MnO₂, for bimodal time-gated luminescence imaging (TGLI) and MRI has been constructed by anchoring visible-light-excitable Eu³⁺ complexes on lamellar MnO₂ nanosheets. Due to the luminescence quenching effect and non-magnetic resonance (MR) activity of MnO₂ nanosheets, the developed nanoprobe presents quite weak TGL and MR signals. After exposure to H₂O₂ or GSH, accompanied by the transformation from MnO₂ to Mn²⁺, the nanoprobe exhibits rapid, sensitive, and selective "turn-on" responses towards GSH and H₂O₂ in TGL and MR detection modes. Furthermore, the nanoprobe displays high stability, low cytotoxicity, good biocompatibility and water dispersion. Given the high contents of GSH and H₂O₂ in cancer cells, the nanoprobe was used for the identification of cancer cells by TGLI of intracellular GSH and H₂O₂, as well as for the tracing of tumor cells in tumor-bearing mice by tumor-targeting in vivo MRI and TGLI of tumor tissues. The research outcomes proved the potential of [Eu(BTD)₃(DPBT)]@MnO₂ as a useful nanoprobe for the tracing and accurate detection of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo via bimodal TGLI and MRI.

Redox ferrocenylseleno compounds modulate longitudinal and transverse relaxation times of FNPs-Gd MRI contrast agents for multimodal imaging and photo-Fenton therapy

Developing a feasible way to feature longitudinal (T₁) and transverse (T₂) relaxation performance of contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is important in cancer diagnosis and therapy. Improved accessibility to water molecule is essential for accelerating the relaxation rate of water protons around the contrast agents. Ferrocenyl compounds have reversible redox property for modulating the hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity of assemblies. Thus, they could be the candidates that can change water accessibility to the contrast agent surface. Herein, we incorporated ferrocenylseleno compound (FcSe) with Gd³⁺-based paramagnetic UCNPs, to obtain FNPs-Gd nanocomposites using T₁-T₂ MR/UCL trimodal imaging and simultaneous photo-Fenton therapy. When the surface of NaGdF₄:Yb,Tm UNCPs was ligated by FcSe, the hydrogen bonding between hydrophilic selenium and surrounding water molecules accelerated their proton exchange to initially endow FNPs-Gd with high r₁ relaxivity. Then, hydrogen nuclei from FcSe disrupted the homogeneity of the magnetic field around the water molecules. This facilitated T₂ relaxation and resulted in enhanced r₂ relaxivity. Notably, upon the near-infrared light-promoted Fenton-like reaction in the tumor microenvironment, hydrophobic ferrocene(II) of FcSe was oxidized into hydrophilic ferrocenium(III), which further increased the relaxation rate of water protons to obtain r₁ = 1.90±0.12 mM^-1 s^-1 and r₂ = 12.80±0.60 mM^-1 s^-1. With an ideal relaxivity ratio (r₂/r₁) of 6.74, FNPs-Gd exhibited high contrast potential of T₁-T₂ dual-mode MRI in vitro and in vivo. This work confirms that ferrocene and selenium are effective boosters that enhance the T₁-T₂ relaxivities of MRI contrast agents, which could provide a new strategy for multimodal imaging-guided photo-Fenton therapy of tumors. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: T₁-T₂ dual-mode MRI nanoplatform with tumor-microenvironment-responsive features has been an attractive prospect. Herein, we designed redox ferrocenylseleno compound (FcSe) modified paramagnetic Gd³⁺-based UCNPs, to modulate T₁-T₂ relaxation time for multimodal imaging and H₂O₂-responsive photo-Fenton therapy. Selenium-hydrogen bond of FcSe with surrounding water molecules facilitated water accessibility for fast T₁ relaxation. Hydrogen nucleus in FcSe perturbed the phase coherence of water molecules in an inhomogeneous magnetic field and thus accelerated T₂ relaxation. In tumor microenvironment, FcSe was oxidized into hydrophilic ferrocenium via NIR light-promoted Fenton-like reaction which further increased both T₁ and T₂ relaxation rates; Meanwhile, the released toxic •OH performed on-demand cancer therapy. This work confirms that FcSe is an effective redox mediate for multimodal imaging-guided cancer therapy.

Bioactive inorganic nanomaterials for cancer theranostics

Bioactive materials are a special class of biomaterials that can react in vivo to induce a biological response or regulate biological functions, thus achieving a better curative effect than traditional inert biomaterials. For cancer theranostics, compared with organic or polymer nanomaterials, inorganic nanomaterials possess unique physical and chemical properties, have stronger mechanical stability on the basis of maintaining certain bioactivity, and are easy to be compounded with various carriers (polymer carriers, biological carriers, etc.), so as to achieve specific antitumor efficacy. After entering the nanoscale, due to the nano-size effect, high specific surface area and special nanostructures, inorganic nanomaterials exhibit unique biological effects, which significantly influence the interaction with biological organisms. Therefore, the research and applications of bioactive inorganic nanomaterials in cancer theranostics have attracted wide attention. In this review, we mainly summarize the recent progress of bioactive inorganic nanomaterials in cancer theranostics, and also introduce the definition, synthesis and modification strategies of bioactive inorganic nanomaterials. Thereafter, the applications of bioactive inorganic nanomaterials in tumor imaging and antitumor therapy, including tumor microenvironment (TME) regulation, catalytic therapy, gas therapy, regulatory cell death and immunotherapy, are discussed. Finally, the biosafety and challenges of bioactive inorganic nanomaterials are also mentioned, and their future development opportunities are prospected. This review highlights the bioapplication of bioactive inorganic nanomaterials.

Nanomaterials for Fluorescence and Multimodal Bioimaging

Bioconjugated nanomaterials replace molecular probes in bioanalysis and bioimaging in vitro and in vivo. Nanoparticles of silica, metals, semiconductors, polymers, and supramolecular systems, conjugated with contrast agents and drugs for image-guided (MRI, fluorescence, PET, Raman, SPECT, photodynamic, photothermal, and photoacoustic) therapy infiltrate into preclinical and clinical settings. Small bioactive molecules like peptides, proteins, or DNA conjugated to the surfaces of drugs or probes help us to interface them with cells and tissues. Nevertheless, the toxicity and pharmacokinetics of nanodrugs, nanoprobes, and their components become the clinical barriers, underscoring the significance of developing biocompatible next-generation drugs and contrast agents. This account provides state-of-the-art advancements in the preparation and biological applications of bioconjugated nanomaterials and their molecular, cell, and in vivo applications. It focuses on the preparation, bioimaging, and bioanalytical applications of monomodal and multimodal nanoprobes composed of quantum dots, quantum clusters, iron oxide nanoparticles, and a few rare earth metal ion complexes.

Cu-In-S/ZnS:Gd3+ quantum dots with isolated fluorescent and paramagnetic modules for dual-modality imaging in vivo

Gd³⁺-doped quantum dots (QDs) have been widely used as small-sized bifunctional contrast agents for fluorescence/magnetic resonance (FL/MR) dual-modality imaging. However, Gd³⁺ doping will always compromise the FL of host QDs. Therefore, balancing the Gd³⁺ doping and the optical properties of QDs is crucial for constructing high-performance bifunctional nanoprobes. Additionally, most paramagnetic QDs are synthesized in the organic phase and need to be transferred to the aqueous phase for bioimaging. Herein, ingeniously designed shell-doped Cu-In-S/ZnS:Gd³⁺ QDs have been prepared in the aqueous phase. It has been demonstrated that isolating paramagnetic Gd³⁺ from fluorescent Cu-In-S core via doping Gd³⁺ into ZnS shell not only avoided the decrease of FL quantum yield (QY), but also ensured the water accessibility of paramagnetic Gd³⁺ ions, by which the FL QY and r₁ relaxivity of Cu-In-S/ZnS:Gd³⁺ QDs achieved as much as 15.6% and 15.33 mM^-1·s^-1, respectively. These high-performance QDs with excellent stability, low biotoxicity, and good tumor permeability were successfully applied for in vivo tumor FL/MR dual-modality imaging, and have shown significant potential in the precision detection and diagnosis of diseases.

Nanotherapeutic and Stem Cell Therapeutic Strategies in Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Promising Therapeutic Approach

Neurodegeneration is characterized by progressive, disabling, and incurable neurological disorders with the massive loss of specific neurons. As one of the most promising potential therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases, stem cell therapy exerts beneficial effects through different mechanisms, such as direct replacement of damaged or lost cells, secretion of neurotrophic and growth factors, decreased neuroinflammation, and activation of endogenous stem cells. However, poor survival and differentiation rates of transplanted stem cells, insufficient homing ability, and difficulty tracking after transplantation limit their further clinical use. The rapid development of nanotechnology provides many promising nanomaterials for biomedical applications, which already have many applications in neurodegenerative disease treatment and seem to be able to compensate for some of the deficiencies in stem cell therapy, such as transport of stem cells/genes/drugs, regulating stem cell differentiation, and real-time tracking in stem cell therapy. Therefore, nanotherapeutic strategies combined with stem cell therapy is a promising therapeutic approach to treating neurodegenerative diseases. The present review systematically summarizes recent advances in stem cell therapeutics and nanotherapeutic strategies and highlights how they can be combined to improve therapeutic efficacy for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Imaging strategies for monitoring the immune response

Real-time monitoring of the immune response can be used to evaluate the immune status of the body and to distinguish immune responders and non-responders, so as to better guide immunotherapy. Through direct labelling of immune cells and imaging specific biomarkers of different cells, the activation status of immune cells and immunosuppressive status of tumor cells can be visualized. The immunotherapeutic regimen can then be adjusted accordingly in a timely manner to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy. In this review, various imaging methods, immune-related imaging probes, current challenges and opportunities are summarized and discussed.

Ultra-Small and Metabolizable Near-Infrared Au/Gd Nanoclusters for Targeted FL/MRI Imaging and Cancer Theranostics

Tumor accurate imaging can effectively guide tumor resection and accurate follow-up targeted therapy. The development of imaging-stable, safe, and metabolizable contrast agents is key to accurate tumor imaging. Herein, ultra-small and metabolizable dual-mode imaging probe Au/Gd@FA NCs is rationally engineered by a simple hydrothermal method to achieve accurate FL/MRI imaging of tumors. The probes exhibit ultra-small size (2.5–3.0 nm), near-infrared fluorescence (690 nm), high quantum yield (4.4%), and a better T₁ nuclear magnetic signal compared to commercial MRI contrast agents. By modifying the folic acid (FA) molecules, the uptake and targeting of the probes are effectively improved, enabling specific fluorescence imaging of breast cancer. Au/Gd@FA NCs with good biosafety were found to be excreted in the feces after imaging without affecting the normal physiological metabolism of mice. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) increased significantly after incubation of Au/Gd@FA NCs with tumor cells under 660 nm laser irradiation, indicating that Au/Gd@FA NCs can promote intracellular ROS production and effectively induce cell apoptosis. Thus, metabolizable Au/Gd@FA NCs provide a potential candidate probe for multimodal imaging and tumor diagnosis in clinical basic research. Meanwhile, Au/Gd@FA NCs mediated excessive intracellular production of ROS that could help promote tumor cell death.

Halogen-modified carbazole derivatives for lipid droplet-specific bioimaging and two-photon photodynamic therapy

Lipid droplets (LDs) are dynamic multifunctional organelles that participate in the regulation of many metabolic processes, visualization of which is necessary for biological research. In this work, a series of two-photon responsive fluorescent probes (C-H, C-Br, and C-I) based on carbazole units were designed and synthesized. Thereinto, an iodine-modified carbazole derivative C-I exhibited an exciting lipid droplet targeting ability due to its excellent lipophilicity. Meanwhile, benefiting from its larger Stokes shift and two-photon absorption cross-section, C-I was employed for two-photon confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy imaging to observe LDs more accurately. In addition, given the heavy atom effect, C-I can effectively generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) leading to cancer cell apoptosis under near-infrared light irradiation. Notably, we explained the process of cell apoptosis through in vitro simulation experiments. This study provides a promising platform for visualization of lipid droplets.

The fabrication of transferrin-modified two-photon gold nanoclusters with near-infrared fluorescence and their application in bioimaging

Transferrin-modified AuNCs (Tf-AuNCs) with two photon-near infrared (TP-NIR) fluorescence were prepared. For the first time, a novel nanoprobe platform, Tf-AuNCs@MnO₂, was developed for the TP-NIR fluorescence imaging and magnetic resonance imaging of living cells and tissues. This platform had high spatiotemporal resolution and a tissue-penetration depth of 300 μm.

A two-photon fluorescence silica nanoparticle-based FRET nanoprobe platform for effective ratiometric bioimaging of intracellular endogenous adenosine triphosphate

Two-photon fluorescence imaging is one of the most attractive imaging techniques for monitoring important biomolecules in the biomedical field due to its advantages of low light scattering, high penetration depth, and suppressed photodamage/phototoxicity under near-infrared excitation. However, in actual biological imaging, organic two-photon fluorescent dyes have disadvantages such as high biological toxicity and their fluorescence efficiency is easily affected by the complex environment in organisms. In this study, a novel nanoprobe platform with two-photon dye-doped silica nanoparticles was developed for FRET-based ratiometric biosensing and bioimaging, with endogenous ATP chosen as the target for detection. The nanoprobe has three components: (1) a two-photon dye-doped silica nanoparticle core, which serves as an energy donor for FRET; (2) amino-modified hairpin primers with carboxy fluorescein as an energy acceptor for FRET; (3) an aptamer acting as a recognition unit to realize the probing function. The nanoprobe showed ratiometric fluorescence responses for ATP detection with high sensitivity and high selectivity in vivo. Moreover, the nanoprobe showed satisfactory ratiometric two-photon fluorescence imaging of endogenous ATP in living cells and tissues (penetration depth of 190 nm). These results indicated that novel two-photon silica nanoparticles can be constructed by doping a two-photon fluorescent dye into silica nanoparticles, and they can effectively solve the disadvantages of two-photon fluorescent dyes. These excellent performances indicate that this novel nanoprobe platform will become a very valuable molecular imaging tool, which can be widely used in the biomedical field for drug screening and disease diagnosis and other related research.