Novel Magnetic-Luminescent Janus Nanoparticles for Cell Labeling and Tumor Photothermal Therapy.

Magnetic-luminescent nanocomposites have multiple uses including multimodal imaging, magnetic targeted drug delivery, and cancer imaging-guided therapies. In this work, dumbbell-like MnFe O -NaYF Janus nanoparticles are synthesized via a two-step thermolysis approach. These synthesized nanoparticles exhibit stability in aqueous solutions and very low cytotoxicity after poly(acryl amide) modification. High cellular uptake efficiency is observed for the folic acid-conjugated MnFe O -NaYF in human esophagus carcinoma cells (Eca-109) due to the upconversion luminescence properties as well as the folate targeting potential. The MnFe O -NaYF also strongly absorbs light in the near-infrared range and rapidly converts to heat energy. It is demonstrated that Eca-109 cells incubated with MnFe O -NaYF are killed with high efficiency after 808 nm laser irradiation. Furthermore, the growth of tumors in mice (grown from Eca-109 cells) is highly inhibited by the photothermal effects of MnFe O -NaYF efficiently. Histological analysis reveals no pathological change and inflammatory response in heart, liver, spleen, lung, or kidney. The low toxicity, excellent luminescence, and highly efficient photothermal therapy properties of MnFe O -NaYF Janus nanoparticles illustrated in this work support their vast potential for nanomedicine and cancer therapy.