In vivo dynamic monitoring and photothermal therapy of bacterial infection by NIR-II CuInSe2 quantum dots

Bacterial infectious diseases pose a serious threat to the safety of human life. It is urgent to development a simple, rapid, efficient and safe precise diagnostic methods and synergistic therapy techniques for combating bacteria. Herein, we synthesize CuInSe2 quantum dots with near-infrared (NIR) emission peak at 1190 nm upon excitation at 808 nm and shifted to 1026 nm after the incorporation of ZnS. Then, Vancomycin was modified on the hydrophilic CuInSe2/ZnS quantum dots to obtain a fluorescent nano biological probe (Van-CuInSe2/ZnS) that can target Staphylococcus aureus, which was used to monitor the bacterial infection process in vivo in real time. Moreover, the nanosystem possesses excellent photothermal conversion properties, and biocompatibility, which enables precise, targeted NIR-II fluorescent imaging of bacterial inflammation in vivo as well as effectively cure subcutaneous bacterial infection and wound bacterial infection in mice. It shows great potential in the treatment of bacterial infectious diseases.