Multifunctional Self-Assembled Supernanoparticles for Deep-Tissue Bimodal Imaging and Amplified Dual-Mode Heating Treatment

Developing multifunctional therapeutic and diagnostic (theranostic) nanoplatforms is critical for addressing challenging issues associated with cancers. Here, self-assembled supernanoparticles consisting of superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles and photoluminescent PbS/CdS quantum dots whose emission lies within the second biological window (II-BW) are developed. The proposed self-assembled Fe3O4 and PbS/CdS (II-BW) supernanoparticles [SASNs (II-BW)] exhibit outstanding photoluminescence detectable through a tissue as thick as 14 mm, by overcoming severe light extinction and concomitant autofluorescence in II-BW, and significantly enhanced T2 relaxivity (282 mM–1 s–1, ca. 4 times higher than free Fe3O4 nanoparticles) due to largely enhanced magnetic field inhomogeneity. On the other hand, SASNs (II-BW) possess the dual capacity to act as both magnetothermal and photothermal agents, overcoming the main drawbacks of each type of heating separately. When SASNs (II-BW) are exposed to the dual-mode (magnetothe...