Light-driven liquid metal nanotransformers for biomedical theranostics

Svetlana A. Chechetka, Yue Yu, Xu Zhen, Manojit Pramanik, Kanyi Pu and Eijiro Miyako ()
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Svetlana A. Chechetka: Nanomaterials Research Institute (NMRI), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)
Yue Yu: Nanomaterials Research Institute (NMRI), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)
Xu Zhen: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Manojit Pramanik: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Kanyi Pu: School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Eijiro Miyako: Nanomaterials Research Institute (NMRI), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Abstract Room temperature liquid metals (LMs) represent a class of emerging multifunctional materials with attractive novel properties. Here, we show that photopolymerized LMs present a unique nanoscale capsule structure characterized by high water dispersibility and low toxicity. We also demonstrate that the LM nanocapsule generates heat and reactive oxygen species under biologically neutral near-infrared (NIR) laser irradiation. Concomitantly, NIR laser exposure induces a transformation in LM shape, destruction of the nanocapsules, contactless controlled release of the loaded drugs, optical manipulations of a microfluidic blood vessel model and spatiotemporal targeted marking for X-ray-enhanced imaging in biological organs and a living mouse. By exploiting the physicochemical properties of LMs, we achieve effective cancer cell elimination and control of intercellular calcium ion flux. In addition, LMs display a photoacoustic effect in living animals during NIR laser treatment, making this system a powerful tool for bioimaging.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15432

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