Table 3. UV-vis imaging agents with QD or Au/Ag nanoparticles.

Imaging modality	Dye/contrast agent	Means of incorporation	Polymer components	Responsive size change	Responsive imaging property	Formulation method a	Size (nm)	Targeting group	Cells/in vivo work	Therapeutics	Ref.
UV-vis	Fe3O4 QD	As core from which polymer was built on	Chitosan	pH	N/A	E	160	N/A	Uptake in L02 cells	Insulin	67
UV-vis	QD	Electrostatic interaction and chemical crosslinks with polymer matrix	CM-dextran and PLL	N/A	N/A	D + E	190	N/A	N/A	N/A	100
UV-vis	QD	Electrostatic interaction between HA and QD	HA	N/A	N/A	E	50–120	HA	Imaging of lymphatic vessels on ears of mice	N/A	99
UV-vis	QD	In situ synthesis inside the nanogels	Chitosan and PMAA crosslinked with MBA	pH	Photoluminescence (PL) increase as pH decreases	A + D	85–175	N/A	Uptake and cytoxicity on mouse melanoma B16F10 cells	Temozolomide	105
UV-vis	QD	Electrostatic interaction	Cholesterol-bearing amino-group-modified Pullulan	N/A	N/A	C + E	38	N/A	Uptake in HeLa cells	N/A	102
UV-vis	QD	Electrostatic interaction between lysosome, QD and polymer	Carboxymethyl cellulose	N/A	PL decreases as pH decreases	D + E	285	—	Uptake and cytotoxicity on HepG2 & MCF-7 cells	Methotrexate	101
NIR	QD	In situ synthesis inside the nanogels	HPC and PAA crosslinked wit MBA	pH and temperature	PL increases as pH decreases	A + D	32–50 (pH 4.5) to 75–83 (pH 7.4)	N/A	Cytotoxicity on B16F10 cells	Temozolomide	104
UV-vis	QD	As core from which polymer was built on	His-tagged polypeptides	pH, temperature and competitors	N/A	E	40.2	RGD	Uptake and cytotoxicity on HeLa cells	Dye ABDPSP & fluorescein sodium (model drugs)	103
UV-vis	Carbon shell and magnetic core nanoparticles	As core from which polymer was built on	Poly(NIPAM-AAm) crosslinked with MBA	NIR/magnetic induced thermal responsive	PL increases as temperature increase	A + E	320 (at 24 °C)	—	Cytotoxicity of B16F10 cells	Curcumin	106
UV-vis	Ag NP	As core from which polymer was built on	Poly(NIPAM-AA) crosslinked with MBA	pH	Blue shift and increase in absorption intensity as pH decreases	A + E	∼77 (pH 5.0) to ∼137 (pH 7.4) at 37 °C	—	Uptake and cytotoxicity on B16F10 cells	Dipyridamole	114
UV-vis	Au NP	As core from which polymer was built on	P(NIPAAM-co-AAm) crosslinked with MBA	Visible light induced thermal responsive	N/A	A + E	>80 (37 °C) and ∼53 (25 °C)	N/A	Uptake and cytotoxicity of HeLa cells	5-Fluorouracil	110
UV-vis	Au–Ag NP	As core from which polymer was built on	PEG crosslinked with PEGMA	NIR induced thermal responsive	PL increases as temperature increases	A + E	18–43 (37 °C)	HA	Uptake and cytotoxicity on B16F10 cells	Temozolomide	111
UV-vis	Au–Ag NP	As core from which polymer was built on	PS crosslinked with DVB and PEG crosslinked with PEGMA	NIR induced thermal responsive	N/A	A + E	22–37 (37 °C)	N/A	Uptake and cytotoxicity on B16F10 cells	Curcumin	112
UV-vis	Au NP	In situ synthesis inside the nanogel	Lysosome–dextran	N/A	N/A	C	190	N/A	Uptake and cytotoxicity on KB cells	Doxorubicin	114
UV-vis	Au NP	As core from which polymer was built on	Chitosan and PAA crosslinked with glutaldehyde	N/A	N/A	D + A	∼120	N/A	Uptake and cytotoxicity on HepG2 cells	N/A	113
UV-vis	Au NP	In situ synthesis inside the nanogel	Chitosan	N/A	N/A	B	80–230	N/A	—	N/A	115

^a Formulation methods: refer to Fig. 1.