Small Molecular NIR-II Fluorophores for Cancer Phototheranostics

Hanming Dai; Qing Shen; Jinjun Shao; Wenjun Wang; Fan Gao; Xiaochen Dong

doi:10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100082

Small Molecular NIR-II Fluorophores for Cancer Phototheranostics

Innovation (Camb). 2021 Jan 19;2(1):100082. doi: 10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100082. eCollection 2021 Feb 28.

Authors

Hanming Dai¹, Qing Shen¹, Jinjun Shao¹, Wenjun Wang², Fan Gao³, Xiaochen Dong^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (KLOFE) and Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), Nanjing 211816, China.
² School of Physical Science and Information Technology, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252059, China.
³ School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China.

Abstract

Phototheranostics integrates deep-tissue imaging with phototherapy (containing photothermal therapy and photodynamic therapy), holding great promise in early diagnosis and precision treatment of cancers. Recently, second near-infrared (NIR-II) fluorescence imaging exhibits the merits of high accuracy and specificity, as well as real-time detection. Among the NIR-II fluorophores, organic small molecular fluorophores have shown superior properties in the biocompatibility, variable structure, and tunable emission wavelength than the inorganic NIR-II materials. What's more, some small molecular fluorophores also display excellent cytotoxicity when illuminated with the NIR laser. This review summarizes the progress of small molecular NIR-II fluorophores with different central cores for cancer phototheranostics in the past few years, focusing on the molecular structures and phototheranostic performances. Furthermore, challenges and prospects of future development toward clinical translation are discussed.

Keywords: cancer phototheranostics; second near-infrared (NIR-II); small molecular fluorophores.

Publication types

Review