AUTHOR=Zhang Peng , Wang Lei , Chen Xiuying , Li Xiang , Yuan Qinghai 

TITLE=Ultrasmall PEI-Decorated Bi2Se3 Nanodots as a Multifunctional Theranostic Nanoplatform for in vivo CT Imaging-Guided Cancer Photothermal Therapy

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.795012

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2021.795012

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p>Bi-based nanomaterials, such as Bi<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub>, play an important part in biomedicine, such as photothermal therapy (PTT) and computed tomography (CT) imaging. Polyethylenimine (PEI)-modified ultrasmall Bi<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> nanodots were prepared using an ultrafast synthetic method at room temperature (25°C). Bi<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> nanodots exhibited superior CT imaging performance, and could be used as effective photothermal reagents owing to their broad absorption in the ultraviolet–visible–near infrared region. Under irradiation at 808 nm, PEI-Bi<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> nanodots exhibited excellent photothermal-conversion efficiency of up to 41.3%. Good biocompatibility and significant tumor-ablation capabilities were demonstrated <italic>in vitro</italic> and <italic>in vivo</italic>. These results revealed that PEI-Bi<sub>2</sub>Se<sub>3</sub> nanodots are safe and a good nanotheranostic platform for CT imaging-guided PTT of cancer.</p>