Targeted Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging of Liver Cancer using Dual-Peptide-Functionalized Albumin Particles

Fluorescence imaging is an emerging strategy for preoperative diagnosis and intraoperative resection. In particular, owing to their outstanding spatial resolution and deep-tissue penetration, imaging agents in the near-infrared (NIR)-II window (1000–1700 nm) have received intensive interest for biomedical applications. However, NIR II-based imaging agents for targeted visualization of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have barely been barely developed. Here, we report the construction of structurally uniform, biocompatible human serum albumin (HSA)-based particles orthogonally modified with two functional peptides as a carrier for the delivery of NIR-II imaging agents to HCC cell-derived solid tumor in vivo. Cysteine conjugation combined with host–guest chemistry enables the orthogonal introduction of two functionally independent peptides to HSA-based nanoparticles. One of these peptides targets glypican-3 (GPC-3), a specific biomarker of HCC, and the other facilitates the escape of the nanoparticles from macrophagic phagocytosis. Series of cellular and in vivo assays were carried out to demonstrate the efficacy of the dual-peptide-functionalized HSA nanoparticles for targeted NIR-II fluorescence imaging of HCC.