In situ gellable poly(amino acid)s with AIE groups for noninterventional embolization therapy and fluorescence imaging of solid tumors

Transcatheter arterial embolization has been used clinically for the treatment of intermediate to advanced unresectable tumors, which is a complex procedure and may pose other risks. In order to achieve an efficient and simple therapeutic diagnostic method for tumors, this paper is based on the fact that the fluorescence properties of AIE fluorescent molecules are similar to those of pH-responsive polyamino acid materials undergoing a “sol–gel” phase transition in a tumor micro-acid environment, and two polyamino acid materials, PGTTC and PGCLTGCL, were linked with TPA derivatives of AIE fluorescent molecules to obtain catheter-free embolic agents, PGTTC-DCDPP-2TPA and PGCLTGCL-DCDPP-2TPA. In tumor fluorescence imaging experiments in tumor-bearing mice, both were enriched at the tumor 72 h after injection and that of the PGCLTGCL-DCDPP-2TPA was stronger, moreover, the tumor cells were suppressed and necrotic after 25 days. Therefore, this pH-responsive noninterventional embolization combination therapeutic diagnostic system has good prospects for application in the field of combined therapeutic diagnostic multifunctional platforms.