Narrow Results

Contrast agents are attracting a great deal of attention in photoacoustic imaging. Here we introduce an exogenous contrast agent that provides high photoacoustic signal amplitude at the near-infrared wavelength. Our agents consist of Indocyanine green (ICG) and phospholipid–polyethylene glycol (PL–PEG), entitled ICG–PL–PEG nanoparticles. These nanoparticles have overcome numerous limitations of ICG, such as poor aqueous stability, concentration-dependent aggregation and lack of target specificity. ICG–PL–PEG nanoparticles are biocompatible and relatively nontoxic. All the components of ICG–PL–PEG nanoparticles have been approved for human use. Upon pulsed laser irradiation, the nanoparticles are more efficient in producing photoacoustic waves than ICG alone. The results showed that ICG–PL–PEG nanoparticles act as good contrast agents for photoacoustic imaging. These unique ICG–PL–PEG nanoparticles have great potential in clinical applications.

To improve the efficacy of traditional chemotherapy and radiotherapy and reduce their serious side effects, further efforts need to be exerted to identify better cancer therapeutic options that are effective, affordable, and acceptable to patients. In this study, a novel theranostic agent was produced to perform synergetic cancer immunotherapy and phototherapy. The theranostic agent, named natural killer (NK) cells carrying indocyanine green loaded liposomes was synthesized NK cells with ICG nanoparticles to serve as the agent for a newly-established cancer treatment. It is expected that the developed synergistic therapy can pave a new avenue for improved efficacy of cancer theranostics.