Activatable Multifunctional Persistent Luminescence Nanoparticle/Copper Sulfide Nanoprobe for in Vivo Luminescence Imaging-Guided Photothermal Therapy

Multifunctional nanoprobes that provide diagnosis and treatment features have attracted great interest in precision medicine. Near-infrared (NIR) persistent luminescence nanoparticles (PLNPs) are optimal materials due to no in situ excitation needed, deep tissue penetration, and high signal-to-noise ratio, while activatable optical probes can further enhance signal-to-noise ratio for the signal turn-on nature. Here, we show the design of an activatable multifunctional PLNP/copper sulfide (CuS)-based nanoprobe for luminescence imaging-guided photothermal therapy in vivo. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs)-specific peptide substrate (H2N–GPLGVRGC–SH) was used to connect PLNP and CuS to build a MMP activatable system. The nanoprobe not only possesses ultralow-background for in vivo luminescence imaging due to the absence of autofluorescence and optical activatable nature but also offers effective photothermal therapy from CuS nanoparticles. Further bioconjugation of c(RGDyK) enables the nanoprobe for cancer-targeted luminescence imaging-guided photothermal therapy. The good biocompatibility and the multiple functions of highly sensitive tumor-targeting luminescence imaging and effective photothermal therapy make the nanoprobe promising for theranostic application.