Dual-Emissive Platinum(II) Metallacage with a Sensitive Oxygen Response for Imaging of Hypoxia and Imaging-Guided Chemotherapy

Imaging of hypoxiain vivohelps with accurate cancer diagnosis and evaluation of therapeutic outcomes. A Pt(II)metallacage with oxygen-responsive red phosphorescence and steady fluorescence forin vivohypoxia imaging and chemotherapy is reported. The therapeutic agent and diagnostic probe were integrated into the metallacage through heteroligation-directed self-assembly. Nanoformulation by encapsulating the metallacage into nanoparticles greatly enhanced its stability the in physiological environment, rendering biomedical applications feasible. Apart from enhanced red phosphorescence upon hypoxia, the ratio between red and blue emissions, which only varies with intracellular oxygen level, provides a more precise standard for hypoxia imaging and detection. Moreover,in vivoexplorations demonstrate the promising potential applications of the metallacage-loaded nanoparticles as theranostic agents for tumor hypoxia imaging and chemotherapy.