Utilizing Polymer Micelle to Control Dye J-aggregation and Enhance Its Theranostic Capability

We utilize polymer micelle to precisely control indocyanine green (ICG) J-aggregation in a fast and highly efficient way. In addition to simple encapsulation, the polymer micelle plays a role as a host template to drive ICG J-aggregation by the synergy of electrostatic and hydrophobic attractions. We further demonstrate that, due to the robust host-guest interaction, the intact of ICG J-aggregate will be secured by the polymer encapsulation during the intracellular and in vivo incubation. These features make this hierarchical assembly between ICG J-aggregate and the micelle polymer a promising biomedicine for cancer phototheranostics. Therefore the complex micelles are further modified by introduction of doxorubicin for chemotherapy and DNA aptamer for tumor targeting, and the final multi-functional micellar medicine shows high therapeutic efficacy for tumor, i.e., the tumor can be completely eliminated with no local reoccurrence and without long-term toxicity or side effects during a 24-day period after the treatment.