Au@Ag/Au nanoparticles assembled with activatable aptamer probes as smart "nano-doctors" for image-guided cancer thermotherapy

Although nanomaterial-based theranostics have increased positive expectations from cancer treatment, it remains challenging to develop in vivo "nano-doctors" that provide high-contrast image-guided site-specific therapy. Here we designed an activatable theranostic nanoprobe (ATNP) via self-assembly of activatable aptamer probes (AAPs) on Au@Ag/Au nanoparticles (NPs). As both quenchers and heaters, novel Au@Ag/Au NPs were prepared, showing excellent fluorescence quenching and more effective near-infrared photothermal therapy than Au nanorods. The AAP comprised a thiolated aptamer and a fluorophore-labeled complementary DNA; thus, the ATNP with quenched fluorescence in the free state could realize signal activation through target binding-induced conformational change of the AAP, and then achieve on-demand treatment under image-guided irradiation. By using S6 aptamer as the model, in vitro and in vivo studies of A549 lung cancer verified that the ATNP greatly improved imaging contrast and specific destruction, suggesting a robust and versatile theranostic strategy for personalized medicine in future.