A highly photothermal stability Au@Cu 2-x Se nanoprobe for photoacoustic- imaging guided dual enhanced NIR- II photothermal/chemodynamic therapy

Abstract

Abstract The occurrence of tumors in deeper tissues and the hypoxic microenvironment of tumor tissue has always been a barrier to achieving the expected therapeutic effect of laser-mediated therapy. Herein, we reported a new nanoprobe by increasing the aspect ratio of the gold nanorods so that the localized surface plasmon Resonance (LSPR) appears in the NIR-II region, and then growing Cu2-xSe with strong plasmon resonance at one end of the surface by deposition method. The nanoprobe demonstrated CDT and PTT therapeutic properties with a single wavelength of NIR-II laser excitation, and the NIR-II laser has deeper biological tissue penetration and is independent of the oxygen content within the tumor tissue. Therefore, in vivo and in vitro experiments, the nanoprobe effectively killed tumor cells by generating a large amount of heat under 1064 nm laser irradiation, combined with hydroxyl free radicals generated by the stimulated plasma hole effect and photothermal enhanced CDT. This work provides a new approach and strategy for the effective treatment of deep hypoxic tumor tissue under a single NIR-II laser excitation.