Glutathione-Activated In Situ Transformation of Nanosized Vanadium Oxides for Postoperative Precision Tumor Theranostics

It is highly desirable to precisely observe the real-time location of residual tumor tissues after surgery without interference and further realize postoperative tumor-specific therapy. Herein, glutathione (GSH)-activated in situ transformation of nanosized vanadium (V) oxides (V2O5) to mixed valence vanadium oxides (VOx) was carried out to realize postoperative precision tumor theranostics. Especially, hyaluronic acid-hybridized V2O5 nanoparticles (HA@V2O5 NPs) were in-situ-transformed to HA-hybridized VOx NPs via the reduction of GSH overexpressed in residual tumor. The transformation of V2O5 to VOx could not only generate near-infrared absorption but also endow VOx with the ability to catalyze hydrogen peroxide to produce hydroxyl radicals. By combining receptor-mediated targeting (RMT) toward tumor cells of HA and GSH-activated in situ transformation, HA@V2O5 NPs could be applied to precisely determine the location of residual tumor tissues in real time via photoacoustic (PA) observation without interference of inflammation after surgery and further realize postoperative tumor-specific photothermal/chemodynamic eradication of them. Therefore, the present work opens the way to utilize the combination strategy of RMT and GSH-activated in situ transformation of inorganic metal oxides to meet the need of postoperative precision tumor theranostics.