All‐in‐One Heptamethine Cyanine Amphiphiles for Dual Imaging‐Guided Chemo‐Photodynamic‐Photothermal Therapy of Breast Cancer

Abstract

AbstractDeveloping a theranostic system that integrates multimodal imaging, synergistic therapeutic, and formulation entities is a promising strategy for efficient cancer treatment. However, the complexity and safety concerns of multiple functional entities hinder their clinical translation. Herein, versatile “all‐in‐one” heptamethine cyanine amphiphiles (PEG‐Cy‐Fs) with multiple favorable capabilities, including fluorine‐19 magnetic resonance imaging (19F MRI), near‐infrared fluorescence imaging (NIR FLI), photodynamic therapy (PDT), photothermal therapy (PTT), polyethylene glycolation (PEGylation) and high biocompatibility, are developed for the convenient construction of theranostic platforms. Amphiphiles PEG‐Cy‐Fs are synthesized on a multi‐hundred‐milligram scale with high efficacy, which self‐assembled with a chemotherapy drug tamoxifen (TAM) into monodisperse and stable nanoparticles (SoFoTm/PEG‐Cy‐F18) with “turned on” FLI, sensitive 19F MRI, mitochondria‐targeting ability, high PDT and PTT efficacy, and PEGylation‐optimized pharmacokinetics. The selective accumulation of SoFoTm/PEG‐Cy‐F18 in xenograft MCF‐7 tumor with a long retention time (>10 days) enabled 19F MRI‐NIR FLI‐guided chemo–photodynamic–photothermal therapy (chemo‐PDT‐PTT) of breast cancer with high therapeutical index in mice. The “all‐in‐one” heptamethine cyanine amphiphile may facilitate the convenient and standardized preparation of high‐performance theranostics systems for clinical translation.