Tumor cell membrane modified clinical lCG nanoprobes for NIR fluorescence imaging of targeted triple negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most aggressive breast cancer subtypes with high metastatic and recurrence rates. However there is still a lack of effective targeting nanoprobes (NPs) which is leading to suboptimal targeted therapy. Cell membrane-encapsulation methods are one of the ideal targeting strategy, which could enhance the biocompatibility through endogenous membrane components while enabling functional integration of targeting and imaging capabilities. In this study, fluorescent dye-clinical indocyanine green (ICG) was successfully encapsulated by TNBC cell membranes via dual biolayer method to form M-ICG NPs. The M-ICG NPs exhibited well cellular uptake for TNBC tumor cells via active targeting capability after homologous cancer cell membrane coating. Meanwhile, strong near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence signals were detected at the tumor sites from mice post-injection of M-ICG NPs at 24 h, indicating that their effective targeted tumor accumulation enables good tumor-specific labeling with strong NIR fluorescence emission. Furthermore, the M-ICG NPs retain the excellent optical and photothermal properties of ICG. Under 808 nm laser irradiation, via infrared imaging, the process of temperature monitoring up to 55°C within 12 min was recorded, exhibiting a strong photothermal effect, which lays a foundation for constructing a multifunctional nanoplatform with tumor-specific targeting, excellent biocompatibility and structural stability.