Flexible use of commercial rhenium disulfide for various theranostic applications

Abstract

Rhenium disulfide (ReS₂) with distinct physicochemical properties has shown promising potential in disease theranostics, such as drug delivery, computed tomography (CT), radiotherapy, and photothermal therapy (PTT). However, the synthesis and post-modification of ReS₂ agents for different application scenarios are time- and energy-consuming, which seriously hinders the clinical translation of ReS₂. Herein, we proposed three facile excipient strategies for different theranostic applications of ReS₂ just through the flexible use of commercial ReS₂ powder. Three excipients, including sodium alginate (ALG), xanthan gum (XG), and ultraviolet-cured resin (UCR), were used to prepare different dosage forms of commercial ReS₂ powder, like hydrogel, suspension, and capsule, respectively. These dosage forms of ReS₂ with distinct characteristics showed great potential for second near-infrared window PTT against tumours, gastric spectral CT imaging, and functional evaluation of the digestive tract in vivo. In addition, these ReS₂ formulations exhibited good biocompatibility both in vitro and in vivo, showing a promising prospect for clinical transformation. More importantly, the facile excipient strategies for commercial agents pave a bridge to the development and wide bioapplication of many other theranostic biomaterials.