Albumin-Energized NIR-II Cyanine Dye for Fluorescence/Photoacoustic/Photothermal Multi-Modality Imaging-Guided Tumor Homologous Targeting Photothermal Therapy

Endowing cyanine dyes with hydrophilicity, long blood circulation, tumor targeting, and robust therapeutic efficacy in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) window is challenging for cancer treatment. Herein, we develop cancer cell membrane-coated albumin-NIR-II cyanine dye assemblies, denoted as LZ-1105@HAm, to optimize the photophysical properties of cyanine dyes in aqueous solution for NIR-II fluorescence (FL)/photoacoustic (PA)/photothermal (PT) multimodality imaging-guided tumor homologous targeting photothermal therapy. LZ-1105@HAm exhibits good hydrophilicity, extends the half-life of blood circulation from 0.634 ± 0.058 to 1.919 ± 0.107 h, enhances NIR-II FL/PA/PT imaging capabilities in vitro and in vivo, and improves photothermal conversion efficiency from 34.6% to 45.4%. Additionally, the cell membrane coating confers the assemblies with tumor-specific targeting capability, increasing tumor accumulation and enabling efficient photothermal tumor ablation. Upon 1064 nm laser irradiation, LZ-1105@HAm demonstrates significantly improved therapeutic efficacy. This research provides a strategy for constructing cyanine dye-based nanotheranostics with potential clinical application prospects.