Osteopontin targeted theranostic nanoprobes for laser-induced synergistic regression of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques

Engineering molecular nanoprobes to target early atherosclerosis: Precise diagnostic tools and promising therapeutic carriers

“…Based on this rationale, Xu together with colleagues established osteopontin-targeted theranostic nanoprobes, which can precisely regress VASPs through a cascade of synergistic events triggered by local irradiation of lasers under the guidance of fluorescence/MR imaging. This hybrid imaging system on the one hand supports that the osteopontin-targeted TPZ/IR780@HSAeOPN nanoprobes could selectively accumulate in the VASP lesions, on the other hand, enables the precise near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation to generate massive ROS, which results in efficient plaque ablation and amplified hypoxia within VASPs 27 . In a similar vein, Qiao et al have applied osteopontin-targeted probes based on Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles to achieve MRI/optical dual-modality imaging of VASPs 111 .…”

“…More interestingly, new dual-mode imaging formed by the fusion of multiple ones, such as optical/MR dual-model imaging, optical/ultrasound dual-modality imaging, and photoacoustic/ultrasound imaging and others, has attracted wide attention and tested for atherosclerotic animal models [27,[45][46][47], as single-mode imaging is not enough to collect accurate imaging information. In addition to overcoming the limitations of single-mode imaging, multi-mode imaging can achieve better imaging effects through combining the advantages of various imaging modalities, to realize the early diagnosis of atherosclerosis.…”

“…Among various molecular probes, nanoprobes, as a novel type of imaging probes and ultrasmall biosensors, have been shown to contribute to the early diagnosis of multiple diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease [23], and most cancers [24][25][26]. In addition to neurological diseases and cancers, nanoprobes also facilitate the imaging of atheromatous changes through formulating with intracellular and extracellular biomolecules, additionally providing longer blood-pool residence and more specific molecular targeting [27][28][29]. Based on this, the application of nanoprobes in combination with other imaging techniques, as exemplified by ultrasound and MRI, can together achieve more precise imaging effects of the plaque morphology and even molecular/cellular signatures of the atheroma.…”

Identification Markers of Carotid Vulnerable Plaques: An Update

“…Osteopontin targeted theranostic nanoprobes have been proved to precisely regress vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques with the guidance of fluorescence/MR imaging [ 84 ]. Cleaved osteoglycin is significantly higher in asymptomatic plaques than that in symptomatic plaques, correlating to the histological vulnerability index of plaques.…”

Molecular nanoprobe for diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases

“…CVDs have complex pathological mechanisms with high concealment and irreversibility, which brings a great challenge to treatment and diagnosis of disease [95,96]. Nevertheless, a single imaging technique cannot provide all the information required [97][98][99][100]. For example, MRI has high spatial resolution with low sensitivity.…”