NIR dye-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles for a multifunctional theranostic platform: Visualization of tumor and ischemic lesions, and performance of photothermal therapy

We report the fabrication of multifunctional theranositic biomaterials via non-covalent, rapid, and effective encapsulation of 1,1′dioctadecyl-3,3,3′,3′-tetrametylindotrucarbocyanine iodide (DIR) onto mesoporous silica nanoparticles by coating the surface of polyethylene glycol (PEG-DIR@MSN). PEG-DIR@MSNs exhibited great stability with excellent biocompatibility and photothermal conversion properties. PEG-DIR@MSN allowed for not only the detection of various types of tumor and ischemic lesions but also photothermal therapy against breast cancer in living mice, suggesting that PEG-DIR@MSN is a valuable multifunctional theranostic platform.