A nanohybrid of Prussian blue supported by boracic acid-modified g-CN for Raman recognition of cell surface sialic acid and photothermal/photodynamic therapy.

Theranostic nanoplatforms with accurate diagnosis and effective therapy show a bright prospect for tumor treatments. Herein, a novel boracic acid-modified graphite carbon nitride and Prussian blue nanohybrid (PB@B-g-CN) was developed, which provides sialic acid-targeted Raman recognition and synergistic photothermal/photodynamic therapy in the near-infrared region. Owing to the specific interaction between boracic acid and sialic acid and Raman response at 2157 cm of PB, the nanohybrids exhibit high specificity and Raman sensitivity for detection of the overexpressed sialic acid on tumor cells. Moreover, the photothermal conversion efficiency of PB@B-g-CN is as high as 47.0% with 808 nm laser irradiation due to the enhanced absorbance of PB@B-g-CN. PB@B-g-CN also possesses excellent photodynamic activity, which is attributed to the energy transfer of PB (type I) and electron transfer between PB and B-g-CN (type II). This nanotheranostic agent for Raman recognition of cancer markers and synergistic photothermal/photodynamic therapy holds great potential for the development of efficient theranostic nanoplatforms.