Positron emission tomography (PET)/near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) dual-modal imaging presents an enticing prospect for
tumor diagnosis and
surgical navigation. In this study, we developed a novel probe IR808-DOTA for
tumor-targeted PET/NIRF imaging,
image-guided surgery, and
photothermal therapy. This construct had better water solubility and pharmacokinetics than IR808 and had similar photophysical properties,
tumor targeting ability, and photothermal anticancer effect to IR808. By a simple labeling process, IR808-DOTA was labeled with
gallium-68 and applied as a PET probe for
tumor imaging in MCF-7
tumor xenografted mice. IR808-DOTA itself acted as an NIRF imaging agent in the following surgery for intraoperative navigation to aid surgeons in the delineation of
tumor margins and visualizing sentinel lymph nodes to facilitate a more thorough
tumor resection. Irradiation by
laser, IR808-DOTA could prominently inhibit
tumor growth in MCF-7 subcutaneous
tumor model mice by directly ablating
tumor cells, inhibiting
tumor proliferation, and promoting
tumor cell apoptosis. In summary, 68Ga-DOTA-IR808 could enable a convenient and user-friendly workflow for
tumor imaging and guided surgery, and therefore, it may have great prospects for clinical translation as a PET/NIRF dual-modal probe.