Combining Magnetic Resonance Imaging with Photothermal Therapy of CuS@BSA Nanoparticles for Cancer Theranostics

The treatment of tumors has been a wide concern by a large number of scientific researchers. Combining magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with photothermal therapy (PTT) enables cancer theranostics to be more efficient and accurate. Herein, we synthesized CuS@BSA nanoparticles with an average grain diameter of about 16.5 nm through a facile one-pot eco-friendly and user-friendly strategy and it was found to have strong near-infrared absorption property and magnetic resonance imaging ability so that it can be utilized as a multifunctional agent for cancer theranostic. The in vitro toxicity study showed that CuS@BSA nanoparticles with low toxicity could kill cancer cells with the 980 nm NIR laser effectively. Furthermore, they exhibit a certain value of relaxivity (r₁ = 0.26 mM^-1·s^-1) compared to that of clinically widely used reagent Magnevist (r₁ = 3.13 mM^-1·s^-1). The resulting product of CuS@BSA nanoparticles with their magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and photothermal therapeutic capabilities could represent a kind of potential candidate for cancer theranostics.