| 초록 |
Multifunctional nanoparticles have been widely investigated for biomedical applications, such as imaging, therapy, and drug delivery. Especially, photothermal nanoparticles have received great attention as theranostic agents because of their heat-generating abilities after exposure to laser irradiation. However, photostability and safety issues have been the technical hurdles for further clinical applications. In this regard, photothermal carbon nanoparitcles (P-CNP) have been the subject of extensive research because of their biocompatibility and photostability. Here, we design an efficient synthetic route to P-CNPs and demonstrate their biomedical applications in photoacoustic imaging (PA) and photothermal therapy (PT). We perform in vivo/ex vivo PA imaging of sentinel lymph nodes via intravenous injection. The renal clearance of P-CNPs are confirmed by the whole-body PA monitoring. P-CNPs are then conjugated with hyaluronic acid to detect early hepatocellular carcinoma. Finally, tumors are treated by PT with intratumorally injected P-CNPs and the size of the tumors are monitored to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of PT. |
