Marriage of Albumin–Gadolinium Complexes and MoS2 Nanoflakes as Cancer Theranostics for Dual-Modality Magnetic Resonance/Photoacoustic Imaging and Photothermal Therapy

The construction of safe and stable theranostics is beneficial to realize simultaneous cancer diagnosis and treatment. In this study, bovine serum albumin–gadolinium (BSA–Gd) complexes and MoS2 nanoflakes (MoS2–Gd–BSA) were successfully married as cancer theranostics for dual-modality magnetic resonance (MR)/photoacoustic (PA) imaging and photothermal therapy (PTT). BSA–Gd complexes were prepared by the biomineralization method and then conjugated with MoS2 nanoflakes via an amide bond. The as-prepared MoS2–Gd–BSA possessed a good photostability and photothermal effect. The cytotoxicity assessment and hemolysis assay suggested the excellent biocompatibility of MoS2–Gd–BSA. Meanwhile, MoS2–Gd–BSA could not only achieve in vivo MR/PA dual-modality imaging of xenograft tumors, but also effectively kill cancer cells in vitro and ablate the xenograft tumors in vivo upon 808 nm laser illumination. The biodistribution and histological evaluations indicated the negligible toxicity of MoS2–Gd–BSA both in vitro and in vivo. Thus, our results substantiated the potential of MoS2–Gd–BSA for cancer theranostics.