Hydroxyl‐Rich Polycation Brushed Multifunctional Rare‐Earth‐Gold Core–Shell Nanorods for Versatile Therapy Platforms

It is of great significance to develop a multifunctional imaging-guided therapeutic platform with ideal resolution and sensitivity. Notably, rare-earth (RE) nanoparticles are attractive candidates for multimodal imaging due to their unique optical and magnetic properties. In this work, a rational design of hierarchical nanohybrids employing RE-Au hetero-nanostructures is proposed. 1D RE nanorods are adopted as the core to facilitate cellular internalization with the coating of gold nanoshells for photothermal performances. Hydroxyl-rich polycations with low cytotoxicity are grafted onto the surface of RE-Au to produce RE-Au-PGEA (ethanolamine-functionalized poly(glycidyl methacrylate)) nanohybrids with impressive gene transfection capability. Given the virtues of all the components, the feasibility of RE-Au-PGEA for multifunctional photoacoustic, computed tomography, magnetic resonance, upconversion luminescence imaging, and complementary photothermal therapy/gene therapy therapy is investigated in detail in vitro and in vivo. The visualization of the therapeutic processes with comprehensive information renders RE-Au-PGEA nanohybrid an intriguing platform to realize enhanced antitumor efficiency.