@article{Liu2025, 
author = {Xinhe Liu and Yi Chang and Guanglei Ma and Tingting Liu and Xueqing Ren and Zhi Zheng and Heng Yu and Yuming Guo and Xiaoming Ma},
title = {Biogenic copper sulfide nanoaggregates via intracellular-tailoring for enhanced photothermal therapy},
year = {2025},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {18},
number = {10},
pages = {94908013},
keywords = {photothermal therapy, photothermal conversion efficiency, biosynthesis, CuS nanoaggregates, antitumor agent},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2025.94908013},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2025.94908013},
abstract = {Photothermal conversion efficiency and biocompatibility are two valuable factors of photothermal agents for photothermal therapy of tumors. However, the synthesis of efficient photothermal agents with desired biocompatibility remains a great challenge in the green synthesis due to harsh reaction conditions of existing methods. Herein, a green and facile biosynthetic method for preparing the photothermal agent (PTA) copper sulfide by cell-regulated was reported for the first time. The intracellular CuS nanoaggregates (nCuS) are biosynthesized using yeast cells as bioreactors and the functional yeast cells including the intercellular bio-PTA with photothermal effect are constructed (nCuS@yeast). The biomolecules derived from the yeast cells are used as conditioning and stabilizing mediator to regulate the biosynthesis of the nCuS. The biosynthetic nCuS exhibits a good biocompatibility and a high photothermal conversion efficiency (45.24%). Additionally, the absorption of internal nCuS in the near-infrared region is not affected by the cell wall, which is beneficial for photothermal therapy. In vitro and in vivo studies reveal the great potential of nCuS@yeast in tumor photothermal therapy. This research establishes a new and green avenue for the synthesis of biocompatible photothermal nanomaterials through a cell-based biosynthesis strategy, highlighting its potential application in the field of tumor therapy.}
}