Key Laboratory of Functional Molecular Engineering of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, China.
Adv Sci (Weinh). 2022 Jan;9(3):e2103971. doi: 10.1002/advs.202103971. Epub 2021 Nov 19.
In the past decade, ultrasmall luminescent metal nanoparticles (ULMNPs, d < 3 nm) have achieved rapid progress in addressing many challenges in the healthcare field because of their excellent physicochemical properties and biological behaviors. With the sharp shrinking size of large plasmonic metal nanoparticles (PMNPs), the contributions from the surface characteristics increase significantly, which brings both opportunities and challenges in the application-driven surface engineering of ULMNPs toward advanced biological applications. Here, the systematic advancements in the biological applications of ULMNPs from bioimaging to theranostics are summarized with emphasis on the versatile surface engineering strategies in the regulation of biological targeting and imaging performance. The efforts in the surface functionalization strategies of ULMNPs for enhanced disease targeting abilities are first discussed. Thereafter, self-assembly strategies of ULMNPs for fabricating multifunctional nanostructures for multimodal imaging and nanomedicine are discussed. Further, surface engineering strategies of ratiometric ULMNPs to enhance the imaging stability to address the imaging challenges in complicated bioenvironments are summarized. Finally, the phototoxicity of ULMNPs and future perspectives are also reviewed, which are expected to provide a fundamental understanding of the physicochemical properties and biological behaviors of ULMNPs to accelerate their future clinical applications in healthcare.
在过去的十年中，由于其优异的物理化学性质和生物行为，超小发光金属纳米粒子（ULMNPs，d < 3nm）在解决医疗保健领域的许多挑战方面取得了快速进展。随着大等离子体金属纳米粒子（PMNPs）尺寸的急剧缩小，表面特性的贡献显著增加，这为 ULMNPs 在先进生物应用中的表面工程带来了机遇和挑战。在这里，我们总结了 ULMNPs 从生物成像到治疗学的生物应用的系统进展，重点介绍了调节生物靶向和成像性能的多功能表面工程策略。首先讨论了 ULMNPs 表面功能化策略在增强疾病靶向能力方面的进展。此后，讨论了 ULMNPs 的自组装策略，用于构建用于多模态成像和纳米医学的多功能纳米结构。此外，还总结了比率型 ULMNPs 的表面工程策略，以增强成像稳定性，解决复杂生物环境中的成像挑战。最后，还回顾了 ULMNPs 的光毒性和未来展望，以期为 ULMNPs 的物理化学性质和生物行为提供基本了解，从而加速其在医疗保健领域的未来临床应用。
