Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ›› 2023, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (4): 545-556.doi: 10.1007/s40242-023-3125-y

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Rare-earth Nanomaterials for Potential Brain Disease Theranostics

WEI Zheng1,2, LIU Yawei1, WANG Fan1, LIU Kai1,2,3,4, ZHANG Hongjie1,2,3,4   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022, P.R. China;
    2. School of Applied Chemistry and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, P.R. China;
    3. Engineering Research Center of Advanced Rare Earth Materials, Ministry of Education, Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P.R. China;
    4. Xiangfu Laboratory, Jiaxing 314102, P.R. China
  • Received:2023-05-15 Online:2023-08-01 Published:2023-07-18
  • Contact: LIU Yawei, WANG Fan, LIU Kai E-mail:yaweiliu@ciac.ac.cn;wangfan@ciac.ac.cn;kailiu@tsinghua.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.22020102003, 22207104, 52222214), the National Key R&D Program of China(Nos.2022YFF071000, 2021YFF0701800), the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences(No.2020228), the Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province, China(Nos.20230101102JC, 20210101366JC), the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China(Nos.2020M681055, 2022T150634), and the Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by the China Association for Science and Technology(Nos.2021-2023QNRC, YESS20210067).

Abstract: Brain diseases with high mortality cause severe threats to human health and life. Non-invasively high-resolution imaging technologies contribute to obtaining detailed brain structures to figure out the pathogenesis. In addition, timely visualization benefits the early warning and diagnosis of brain diseases. Rare-earth-based nanoparticles(RENPs) with excellent optical properties are highlighted for the diagnosis and treatment of brain diseases in recent years. Their tunable down-conversion fluorescence enables the high-resolution NIR-II fluorescence imaging of the brain. Besides, the excellent up-conversion luminescence can be applied to designing fluorescent probes to visualize brain diseases. Importantly, the surface of RENPs can be tailored to cross the blood-brain barrier, target the disease site in the brain and deliver drugs specifically, providing an effective tool for treating brain diseases. Excitingly, RENPs can be combined with emerging therapies, such as phototherapy, gas therapy and sonodynamic therapy, significantly improving the therapeutic effects of glioblastoma. This review summarizes the rational design, functionalization strategies and application of RENPs in brain imaging, diagnosis and therapy. Furthermore, a brief perspective on existing challenges and further development of RENPs is presented.

Key words: Rare earth, Nanoparticle, Brain imaging, Diagnosis, Therapy