Pt‐Decorated Gold Nanoflares for High‐Fidelity Phototheranostics: Reducing Side‐Effects and Enhancing Cytotoxicity toward Target Cells

Abstract

Functionalized with the Au‐S bond, gold nanoflares have emerged as promising candidates for theranostics. However, the presence of intracellular abundantly biothiols compromises the conventional Au‐S bond, leading to unintended release of cargoes and associated side‐effects on non‐target cells. Additionally, hypoxic microenvironment in diseased regions limits treatment efficacy, particularly in dynamic therapy. To address these challenges, high‐fidelity photodynamic nanoflares constructed on Pt‐coated gold nanoparticles (Au@Pt PDNF) were communicated to avoid false‐positive therapeutic signals and side‐effects caused by biothiol perturbation. Compared with conventional photodynamic gold nanoflares (AuNP PDNF), the Au@Pt PDNF was selectively activated by cancer biomarker and exhibited high‐fidelity phototheranostics while reducing side‐effects. Furthermore, the ultrathin Pt‐shell catalysis was confirmed to generate oxygen that relieved hypoxia‐related photodynamic resistance and enhanced antitumor effect. This design might open a new venue to advance the theranostics performance and is adaptable to other theranostic nanomaterials by simply adding a Pt shell.