Degradable Vanadium Disulfide Nanostructures with Unique Optical and Magnetic Functions for Cancer Theranostics.

Multifunctional biodegradable inorganic theranostic nano-agents are of great interest to the field of nanomedicine. Upon lipid modification, VS nanosheets could be converted into ultra-small VS nanodots encapsulated inside polyethylene glycol (PEG) modified lipid micelles. Owing to paramagnetism, high near-infrared (NIR) absorbance, and chelator-free Tc labeling of VS , such VS @lipid-PEG nanoparticles could be used for T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR), photoacoustic (PA),and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) tri-modal imaging guided photothermal ablation of tumors. Importantly, along with the gradual degradation of VS , our VS @lipid-PEG nanoparticles exhibit effective body excretion without appreciable toxicity. The unique advantages of VS nanostructures with highly integrated functionalities and biodegradable behaviors mean they are promising for applications in cancer theranostics.