High Density Glycopolymers Functionalized Perylene Diimide Nanoparticles for Tumor-Targeted Photoacoustic Imaging and Enhanced Photothermal Therapy

Near-infrared (NIR) absorbing nanoagents with functions of photoacoustic imaging (PAI) and photothermal therapy (PTT) have received great attention for cancer therapy. However, endowing them with multifunctions, especially targeting ability, for enhancing in vivo PAI/PTT generally suffers from the problems of synthetic complexity and low surface density of function groups. We herein report high density glycopolymers coated perylenediimide nanoparticles (PLAC–PDI NPs), self-assembled by poly(lactose)-modified perylenediimide (PLAC–PDI), as tumor-targeted PAI/PTT nanoagents. Atom transfer radical polymerization and click reaction were used in sequence to prepare PLAC–PDI, which can accurately control the content of poly(lactose) (PLAC) in PLAC–PDI and endow PLAC–PDI NPs with high density PLAC surface. The high density PLAC surface provided NPs with long-time colloidal stability, outstanding stability in serum and light, and specific targeting ability to cancer cells and tumors. Meanwhile, PLAC–PDI NPs also ...