Tuanwei Li

University of Science and Technology of China | USTC · Department of Chemical Physics

Intravital fluorescence imaging in the second near‐infrared window (NIR‐II, 900–1700 nm) has emerged as a promising method for non‐invasive diagnostics in complex biological systems due to its advantages of less background interference, high tissue penetration depth, high imaging contrast, and sensitivity. However, traditional NIR‐II fluorescence i...

Photothermal therapy (PTT) is considered a promising treatment strategy for solid tumors. However, local hyperthermia (over 45°C) during PTT can cause severe side effects in neighboring healthy tissues. PTT with accurate temperature feedback is a compelling strategy to ablate tumors and reduce side effects, but it still faces challenges. Here, a ne...

The pathological process involves a range of intrinsic biochemical markers. The detection of multiple biological parameters is imperative for providing precise diagnostic information on diseases. In vivo multichannel fluorescence biosensing facilitates the acquisition of biochemical information at different levels, such as tissue, cellular, and mol...

Early monitoring of gastrointestinal diseases via orally delivered NIR-II ratiometric fluorescent probes represents a promising noninvasive diagnostic modality, but is challenging due to the limitation of harsh digestive environment. Here, we report a single-component NIR-II ratiometric molecular nanoprobe (LC-1250 NP) to monitor gastrointestinal d...

Controllable regulation of stem cell differentiation is a critical concern in stem cell-based regenerative medicine. In particular, there are still great challenges in controlling the directional differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) into neurons. Herein, we developed a novel linear-branched poly(β-amino esters) (S4-TMPTA-BDA-DT, STBD) throug...

All‐in‐one phototheranostics triggered by near‐infrared (NIR) light are receiving significant attention. Herein, an NIR (NIR‐I) probe with intrinsic multifunctionality is synthesized and encapsulated by an amphiphilic polypeptide P(OEGMA)21‐P(Asp)16. The as‐fabricated polymeric micelles (P@BDP) serve as an NIR‐II imaging‐guided nanotheranostic plat...

NIR-II fluorescence imaging-guided photothermal therapy is a potential tumor therapeutic that has exhibited accurate diagnosis and noninvasive therapy of tumors. Here, we developed an organic macromolecular nanoparticle (PFD) by encapsulating a fluorophore with an amphiphilic polypeptide. The PFD nanoparticle presented a uniform size of 70 nm with...

Encouraging progress in multifunctional nanotheranostic agents that combine photothermal therapy (PTT) and different imaging modalities has been made. However, rational designed and biocompatible multifunctional agents that suitable for in vivo application is highly desired but still challenging. In this work, we rationally designed novel ultrasmal...

The combination of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and enzyme therapy is a highly desirable approach in malignant tumor therapies as it takes advantage of the spatial-controlled PDT and the effective enzyme-catalyzed bio-reactions. However, it is a challenge to co-encapsulate hydrophilic enzymes and hydrophobic photosensitizers, and these two agents oft...

Hypoxia, one of the nature of most solid tumors, can severely impede the efficiency of oxygen-dependent treatment such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and type-II photodynamic therapy. Herein, a catalase-like nanozyme RuO2@BSA (RB) was first prepared through biomineralization strategy and high efficiency near-infrared photosensitizer (IR-808-Br2) wer...

Mannose has been reported as a novelty drug to kill the cancer cell. Prodrug of mannose will promote the targeted delivery and enrichment of it in tumor site and cancer cells. Here, a pH-sensitive polypeptide copolymer with tertiary amine group has been prepared and mannose molecule was conjugated to the polymer by the formation of Schiff base. At...

Imaging-guided photothermal therapy (PTT) is an attractive strategy to improve the diagnosis accuracy and treatment outcomes by monitoring the accumulation of photothermal agents in tumors in real-time and determining the best treatment window. Taking advantage of the superior imaging quality of NIR II fluorescence imaging and remote-controllable p...

Efficient delivery of hydrophobic photosensitizer (PS) into tumor cells is a key step for photodynamic therapy (PDT). Redox-responsive polymeric nanoparticles of amphiphilic macro-photosensitizer has designed and prepared as a prodrug-like pro-photosensitizer (pro-PS) for PDT. PEG works as the hydrophilic block and the near infrared (NIR) brominate...

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an appealing therapeutic modality in management of some solid tumors and other diseases for its minimal invasion and non-systemic toxicity. However, the hydrophobicity and non-selectivity of the photosensitizers, inherent serious hypoxia of tumor tissues and limited penetration depth of light restrict PDT further appli...

Precise detection of tumor environment for cancer diagnosis was strongly demanded for further therapies. Here, a redox-responsive fluorescence switch off/on system PCQ was designed and synthesized conjugated with near infrared (NIR) cyanine dyes (Cy5.5) and relevant quencher (FQ) in mixed polymeric micelles (PCy and PFQ). The mixed PCQ micelles was...

Smart drug delivery system of core–shell-type polypeptide nanogel of poly(Z-l-lysine-co-l-cystine) (PLL-LC) has been synthesized, which showed high drug loading content (DLC 16.5%) of DOX and pHe–glutathione (GSH) stepwise responsive disassembly. Modifying the shell of the nanogel by 2,3-dimethylmaleic anhydride (DMA) makes it quickly respond to th...

A heavy atoms modified reaction-active photosensitizer NHS-BODIPY-Br possessing efficient near infrared (NIR) fluorescence emission and singlet oxygen generation properties has been synthesized, which can be used for synchronous NIR imaging and photodynamic therapy (PDT). A reduction-sensitive PEGylated polypeptide nanogel was prepared by ring-open...

Tumor environmental sensitive polypeptide integrated photosensitizer is a platform for imaging-guided photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, the photosensitizer leakage during blood circulation, poor accumulation in tumor tissue and inferior quantum yield of singlet oxygen are still challenges. Herein, NHS-active boron-dipyrromethene derivative with...

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) combining with near infrared (NIR) imaging is attractive. However, the intrinsic hypoxia in tumor and consumption of oxygen during treatment will decrease PDT. Here an artificial red cell was prepared using polypeptides conjugated hemoglobin as an oxygen carrier. A NIR photosensitizer-brominated 4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,a-d...

A negatively charged polypeptide nanogel, near‐infrared (NIR) cyanine dye (Cy5.5) conjugated and 2,3‐dimethylmaleic anhydride (DMA) modified poly‐l‐lysine‐co‐l‐cystine (CDPLC), is synthesized and is used as an imaging‐guided sequential drug delivery system. The CDPLC nanogel can respond to two general stimulations in sequence: extracellular tumor a...

Epoxy resins are the main encapsulation materials for light-emitting devices (LEDs) owing to their high transparency, appropriate mechanical strength, and excellent thermal stability. However, environmental benign materials needed to be developed with improving performances. Transparent wood and its nanocomposites prepared from natural biomass are...

Photobleaching and bio-toxicity are the main bottlenecks for organic fluorescent dyes applied in real-time dynamic monitoring of living cells. Here, an unnatural amino acid (UAA), 4-nitro-3-phenyl-L-alanine (NPA), was used as a scaffold to covalently link a near infrared (NIR) fluorophore Cy5.5, and an amphiphilic polypeptide Poly[oligo(ethylene gl...

A major hinder in photodynamic therapy (PDT) for higher efficiency is hypoxia environment in tumor area and PDT-induced continuous consumption of molecule oxygen. Oxygen self-sufficient fluorinated polypeptide nanoparticles has been synthesized with loading a NIR photosensitizer (BODIPY-Br2) into a water-dispersible drug delivery system for high ef...

Near infrared (NIR) imaging-guided photodynamic therapy (PDT) is remarkable for its high-efficiency in “see and treat” field. However, hypoxia of cancer cell limits PDT dues to the low singlet oxygen yield. Here MnO2 conjugated multifunctional polypeptide nanoparticles encapsulating photosensitizer BODIPY has been prepared via a one-step reaction,...

Scheme of BODIPY synthesis, 1H-NMR of POEGMA30 and PLys10, optical properties of BODIPY, photo images of PMB solution, and cell tests on HepG2 and 4T1 cancer cells. Supplementary figures.

Supramolecular self-assembly of polymeric molecules for sharp-pH-sensitive (SPS) nanoparticles is an especially important application in biology. Here, amphiphilic polypeptide copolymers are synthesized and spontaneously assembled to micelles in aqueous solution, and protonation of the tertiary amine groups in the side-chain of the copolymer under...

Bioimaging requires probes with turn-on properties at all time for tracing, especially at the near-infrared (NIR) region with an intelligent performance. Here, A Schiff base dye conjugated with both pyrene and a cyanine (cy7) NIR flourophores has been synthesized, which showed a novel "see-saw" fluorescent performance via the combination of aggrega...

An amphiphilic copolymer of poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate) (POEGMA) and poly(benzyl-l-aspartic acid) (PBLA) has been prepared by means of reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization, ring-opening polymerization, and click reaction. After the PBLA segment was aminolyzed by the primary amine, N,N-diisopropylethyl...

Near infrared (NIR) imaging-guided photodynamic therapy (PDT) is attractive, especially the utilization of one dye as both a photosensitizer and fluorescent probe, and the as-synthesized BODIPY-Br2 molecule is a candidate. Here, a galactose targeted amphiphilic copolymer of a polypeptide was synthesized and its micelles work as nanocarriers for BOD...