Currently, phototherapy initiated by local irradiation with a near-infrared (NIR) laser has emerged as a promising strategy for cancer treatment owing to its low toxicity. However, a key problem for effective phototherapy is how to specifically deliver a sufficient dose of photosensitizers to a tumor focus. Herein, indocyanine green (ICG), a United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA)-approved photosensitizer, was first encapsulated in an inner aqueous compartment of liposome (ICG-LIP) to improve its stability. Thereafter, tumor cell membranes were isolated from native glioma cells and subsequently inlaid in the bilayer lipid membrane of ICG-LIP to construct cell-like liposomes (ICG-MCLs). ICG was easily encapsulated into the ICG-MCLs with a very high encapsulation efficiency, reaching 78.01 ± 0.72% and its concentration in the final formulation reached 200 μg mL-1. The ICG-MCLs displayed a spherical morphology with a hydrodynamic diameter (Dh) of 115.0 ± 0.5 nm, a PDI of 0.14, and a zeta potential of -11.2 ± 0.9 mV. Moreover, ICG-MCLs exhibited a good stability in terms of particle size and significantly improved the chemical stability of ICG in pH 7.4 PBS at 37 °C. In addition, the temperature of the ICG-MCLs rapidly increased to 63 °C after 10 min irradiation and this was maintained for a longer time. Owing to the cancer cell membrane associated protein, the ICG-MCLs were specifically internalized by homogenous glioma C6 cells in vitro, which resulted in the strong red fluorescence of ICG in cytoplasm. Moreover, in vivo imaging showed that the ICG-MCLs were effectively homed to the tumor site of C6 glioma-bearing Xenograft nude mice through vein injection, which resulted in the temperature of the tumor site rapidly rising, allowing the killing of tumor cells after local NIR irradiation. After treatment with the ICG-MCLs, the primary tumor focus was completely eradicated and lung metastases were effectively inhibited. In conclusion, liposomes inlaid with tumor cellular membranes may serve as an excellent nanoplatform for homologous-targeting phototherapy using ICG.

Herein, a theranostic liposome (QSC-Lip) integrated with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) and quantum dots (QDs) and cilengitide (CGT) into one platform is constructed to target glioma under magnetic targeting (MT) for guiding surgical resection of glioma. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirm the complete coencapsulation of SPIONs and QDs in liposome. Besides, CGT is also effectively encapsulated into the liposome with an encapsulation efficiency of ∼88.9%. QSC-Lip exhibits a diameter of 100 ± 1.24 nm, zeta potential of -17.10 ± 0.11 mV, and good stability in several mediums. Moreover, each cargo shows a biphasic release pattern from QSC-Lip, a rapid initial release within initial 10 h followed by a sustained release. Cellular uptake of QSC-Lip is significantly enhanced by C cells under MT. In vivo dual-imaging studies show that QSC-Lip not only produces an obvious negative-contrast enhancement effect on glioma by magnetic resonance imaging but also makes tumor emitting fluorescence under MT. The dual-imaging of QSC-Lip guides the accurate resection of glioma by surgery. Besides, CGT is also specifically distributed to glioma after administration of QSC-Lip under MT, resulting in an effective inhibition of tumors. The integrated liposome may be a potential carrier for theranostics of tumor.

Silk was easily dyed in traditional textile industry because of its strong affinity to many colorants. Herein, the biocompatible silk fibroin was firstly extracted from Bombyx mori silkworm cocoons. And SF nanoparticles (SFNPs) were prepared for dyeing indocyanine green (ICG) and construct a therapeutic nano-platform (ICG-SFNPs) for photo-thermal therapy of glioblastoma. ICG was easily encapsulated into SFNPs with a very high encapsulation efficiency reaching to 97.7 ± 1.1%. ICG-SFNPs exhibited a spherical morphology with a mean particle size of 209.4 ± 1.4 nm and a negative zeta potential of −31.9 mV, exhibiting a good stability in physiological medium. Moreover, ICG-SFNPs showed a slow release profile of ICG in vitro, and only 24.51 ± 2.27% of the encapsulated ICG was released even at 72 h. Meanwhile, ICG-SFNPs exhibited a more stable photo-thermal effect than free ICG after exposure to near-infrared irradiation. The temperature of ICG-SFNPs rapidly increased by 33.9 °C within 10 min and maintained for a longer time. ICG-SFNPs were also easily internalized with C6 tumor cells in vitro, and a strong red fluorescence of ICG was observed in cytoplasm for cellular imaging. In vivo imaging showed that ICG-SFNPs were effectively accumulated inside tumor site of C6 glioma-bearing Xenograft nude mice through vein injection. Moreover, the temperature of tumor site was rapidly rising up to kill tumor cells after local NIR irradiation. After treatment, its growth was completely suppressed with the relative tumor volume of 0.55 ± 033 while free ICG of 33.72 ± 1.90. Overall, ICG-SFNPs may be an effective therapeutic means for intraoperative phototherapy and imaging.

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