In vivo surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging allows non-invasive visualization of tumors for intraoperative guidance and clinical diagnostics. However, the in vivo utility of SERS is greatly hampered by the strong optical scattering and autofluorescence background of biological tissues and the lack of highly active plasmonic nanostructures. Herein, we report a class of porous nanostructures comprising a cubic AuAg alloy nanoshell and numerous nanopores. Such porous nanostructures exhibit excellent near-infrared II plasmonic properties tunable in a broad spectral range by varying the pore features while maintaining a small dimension. We demonstrate their exceptional near-infrared II SERS performance varying with the porous properties. Additionally, near-infrared II SERS probes created with porous cubic AuAg nanoshells are demonstrated with remarkable capability for in vivo visualization of sub-millimeter microtumors in a living mouse model. Our near-infrared II SERS probes hold great potentials for precise demarcation of tumor margins and identification of microscopic tumors.

The major hurdles of chemodynamic therapy (CDT) are nondegradability and low-efficiency utilization of chemodynamic agents, and intracellular glutathione (GSH)-induced rapid scavenging of hydroxyl radicals (•OH). Here, a biodegradable a-CFT@IP6@BSA agent is reported for efficient cancer therapy by encapsulating amorphous copper iron tellurite nanoparticles (a-CFT NPs) into inositol hexaphosphate (IP6) and bovine serum albumin (BSA). The biggest merits of this agent are the GSH responsive degradation and amorphous structure, allowing the tumorspecific release of plenty of Cu + ions and their high-efficiency utilization for •OH production via the Fenton-like reaction. Besides, the released Cu + ions can deplete the intracellular GSH and thereby protect •OH from scavenging, greatly improving the CDT efficiency. Further, it is found that the a-CFT@IP6@BSA NP treatment downregulates the levels of glutathione peroxidase 4 and BCL-2, indicating GSH depletionassociated ferroptosis and IP6-induced apoptotic death of cancer cells. Utilizing the T 1 / T 2 dual-modal magnetic resonance imaging capability, the a-CFT@IP6@BSA NPs are demonstrated with excellent in vivo anticancer efficiency and have great potential for imaging-guided cancer treatment.

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