Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women all over the world. Mastectomy is the most effective treatment, but there are serious problems such as high tumor recurrence rate and side effects of chemotherapy. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a therapeutic strategy that can effectively promote postoperative wound healing and inhibit local tumor recurrence. In this study, a 3D printing scaffold based on carbon dots-curcumin nano-drug release (CCNPs) was developed as a local drug delivery platform (named CCNACA using CCNPs, Sodium alginate, Nanoclay and Caffeic Acid grafted Chitosan as raw materials), which has the ability to visualize drug release. The 14-day drug release test in vitro showed that the tumor inhibition rate of CCNACA scaffolds on breast cancer cells (MCF-7) was 73.77 +/- 1.68 %. And the CCNACA scaffolds had good longterm antibacterial (Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) activity. Animal experiments have shown that implanting CCNACA scaffolds into surgical defects can inhibit postoperative residual cancer cells, reduce inflammation, promote angiogenesis, and repair tissue defects caused by surgery. In summary, the local drug delivery system of this manuscript has great potential in wound healing and prevention of tumor recurrence after breast cancer surgery.
The transplantation of islet beta cells offers an alternative to heterotopic islet transplantation for treating type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). However, the use of systemic immunosuppressive drugs in islet transplantation poses significant risks to the body. To address this issue, we constructed an encapsulated hybrid scaffold loaded with islet beta cells. This article focuses on the preparation of the encapsulated structure using 3D printing, which incorporates porcine pancreas decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) to the core scaffold. The improved decellularization method successfully preserved a substantial proportion of protein (such as Collagen I and Laminins) architecture and glycosaminoglycans in the dECM hydrogel, while effectively removing most of the DNA. The inclusion of dECM enhanced the physical and chemical properties of the scaffold, resulting in a porosity of 83.62% ± 1.09% and a tensile stress of 1.85 ± 0.16 MPa. In teams of biological activity, dECM demonstrated enhanced proliferation, differentiation, and expression of transcription factors such as Ki67, PDX1, and NKX6.1, leading to improved insulin secretion function in MIN-6 pancreatic beta cells. In the glucose-stimulated insulin secretion experiment on day 21, the maximum insulin secretion from the encapsulated structure reached 1.96 ± 0.08 mIU ml-1, representing a 44% increase compared to the control group. Furthermore, conventional capsule scaffolds leaverage the compatibility of natural biomaterials with macrophages to mitigate immune rejection. Here, incorporating curcumin into the capsule scaffold significantly reduced the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokine (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ) secretion by RAW264.7 macrophages and T cells in T1DM mice. This approach protected pancreatic islet cells against immune cell infiltration mediated by inflammatory factors and prevented insulitis. Overall, the encapsulated scaffold developed in this study shows promise as a natural platform for clinical treatment of T1DM.
Bioreactor can provide a dynamic culture environment for the in vitro construction of osteochondral tissue engineering. They facilitate more efficient exchange of nutrients and provide mechanical and other beneficial stimulation. Previous findings demonstrated that rotary flask (RF) bioreactor, rotary cell culture system (RCCS), or electromagnetic field (EMF) mediated scaffold culture could create a favorable dynamic environment for osteochondral tissue engineering. However, it is still unclear whether there is an optimal bioreactor or if bioreactors under multi-parameter coupling conditions are conducive to osteochondral tissue engineering. Based on this, the application of static T-flask (TF), RF, RCCS, and coupling environment of RCCS and EMF for osteochondral tissue engineering were systematically compared. The results showed that the RCCS/EMF culture system achieved the highest level of cellular proliferation and directed differentiation. Compared with the static culture group, the expression levels of chondrogenic factors of Sox9, Col II, and ACAN and osteogenic factors of Runx2, OCN, and Col I in RCCS/EMF culture system were 2.90 ± 0.10, 3.53 ± 0.05, 3.15 ± 0.08, 7.16 ± 0.15, 5.01 ± 0.21 and 3.99 ± 0.17 folds, respectively. The 'Active osteochondral' constructs (The construct is composed of chitosan/gelatin/nano-hydroxyapatite and bone-derived scaffolds) were prepared under different culture modes in vitro and implanted into the femoral condylar defect of New Zealand rabbits. After 12 weeks, all culture modes could effectively promote the repair of osteochondral defects, in which the RCCS/EMF intervention had the best effect on the in vivo in-situ repair of osteochondral tissues. Furthermore, the fabricated cartilage and subchondral bone in the RCCS/EMF treatment group were most similar to the surrounding natural tissues, providing a new therapeutic idea for osteochondral tissue engineering.
Radiotherapy is a common local treatment for breast cancer, and while it is effective in targeting tumor cells, it inevitably causes significant side effects. These include excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), repeated inflammatory, and severe skin ulceration, all of which can hinder the wound healing process. As a result, there is a pressing need for multifunctional medical dressings that can support wound repair following radiotherapy. In this study, we introduced a novel double-network interpenetrating hydrogel (GEMC), which combined gelatin grafted dopamine (GEDA), acrylamide, nano-clay (NC), and curcumin loaded nanoparticles (CCNPs). Unlike traditional single-function hydrogels, the GEMC hydrogel offered a combination of antioxidant properties, tissue adhesion, and real time drug tracking, effectively addressing the multifaceted challenges of wound healing after radiotherapy. The GEMC hydrogel exhibited impressive antioxidant activity and superior mechanical properties, which collectively improve the support and protection of wounded surfaces. Furthermore, GEMC promoted skin regeneration, angiogenesis and reduced inflammatory in a mouse model of radiotherapy-induced skin ulceration. These results highlight the hydrogel's potential to accelerate would healing and enhance the effectiveness of post-radiotherapy wound care, providing a promising new approach to improving the quality of skin recovery following radiotherapy.
Skin plays a crucial role in human physiological functions, however, it was vulnerable to bacterial infection which delayed wound healing. Nowadays, designing an individual wound dressing with good biocompatibility and sustaining anti-infection capability for healing of chronic wounds are still challenging. In this study, various concentrations of the ciprofloxacin (CIP) were mixed with gelatine (Gel)/sodium alginate (SA) solution to prepare Gel/SA/CIP (GAC) bioinks, following the fabrication of GAC scaffold by an extrusion 3D bioprinting technology. The results showed that the GAC bioinks had good printability and the printed GAC scaffolds double-crosslinked by EDC/NHS and CaCl2 had rich porous structure with appropriate pore size, which were conducive to drug release and cell growth. It demonstrated that the CIP could be rapidly released by 70% in 5 min, which endowed the GAC composite scaffolds with an excellent antibacterial ability. Especially, the antibacterial activities of GAC7.5 against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus within 24 h were even close to 100%, and the inhibition zones were still maintained 14.78 ± 0.40 mm and 14.78 ± 0.40 mm, respectively, after 24 h. Meanwhile, GAC7.5 also demonstrated impressive biocompatibility which can promote the growth and migration of L929 and accelerate wound healing. Overall, the GAC7.5 3D bioprinting scaffold could be used as a potential skin dressing for susceptible wounds with excellent antibacterial activity and good biocompatibility to meet urgent clinical needs.
Poly ionic liquids (PILs) have become important choices as antibacterial agents because of their excellent biological properties and abundant species. Development of new antibacterial materials with PIL has been a feasible and popular research topic. In this paper, the Polyvinyl Alcohol/Polyionic Liquid (PVA-PIL) hybrid membranes were fabricated by vacuum drying method. Poly (1-Vinyl-3-butylimidazolium bromide) (PIL1) and poly (1-Vinyl-3-butylimidazolium bromide)-poly (butyl acrylate) (PIL2) were selected and tested as the main components of bacteriostatic agents. The antibacterial properties of the PVA-PIL hybrid membranes against bacteria E. coli and S. aureus were tested by the disc method. Meanwhile, the cytotoxicities of hybrid membranes were evaluated against mouse fibroblast (L929) by fluorescent staining experiment. M2 showed excellent antibacterial properties which could not be found on M3. Furthermore, all PVA-PIL membranes exhibited favorable cytocompatibilities. These properties make M2 a possible candidate for wound dressing.
Craniofacial bone regeneration is a coupled process of angiogenesis and osteogenesis, which, associated with infection, still remains a challenge in bone defects after trauma or tumor resection. 3D tissue engineering scaffolds with multifunctional-therapeutic properties can offer many advantages for the angiogenesis and osteogenesis of infected bone defects. Hence, in the present study, a microchannel networks-enriched 3D hybrid scaffold composed of decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM), gelatin (Gel), quaterinized chitosan (QCS) and nano-hydroxyapatite (nHAp) (dGQH) was fabricated by an extrusion 3D bioprinting technology. And enlightened by the characteristics of natural bone microstructure and the demands of vascularized bone regeneration, the exosomes (Exos) isolated from human adipose derived stem cells as angiogenic and osteogenic factors were then co-loaded into the desired dGQH 20 hybrid scaffold based on an electrostatic interaction. The results of the hybrid scaffolds performance characterization showed that these hybrid scaffolds exhibited an interconnected pore structure and appropriate degradability (>61% after 8 weeks of treatment), and the dGQH 20 hybrid scaffold displayed the highest porosity (83.93 ± 7.38%) and mechanical properties (tensile modulus: 62.68 ± 10.29 MPa, compressive modulus: 16.22 ± 3.61 MPa) among the dGQH hybrid scaffolds. Moreover, the dGQH 20 hybrid scaffold presented good antibacterial activities (against 94.90 ± 2.44% of Escherichia coli and 95.41 ± 2.65% of Staphylococcus aureus , respectively) as well as excellent hemocompatibility and biocompatibility. Furthermore, the results of applying the Exos to the dGQH 20 hybrid scaffold showed that the Exo promoted the cell attachment and proliferation on the scaffold, and also showed a significant increase in osteogenesis and vascularity regeneration in the dGQH@Exo scaffolds in vitro and in vivo . Overall, this novel dECM/Gel/QCS/nHAp hybrid scaffold laden with Exo has a considerable potential application in reservation of craniofacial bone defects.
Heart valve disease has become a serious global health problem, which calls for numerous implantable prosthetic valves to fulfill the broader needs of patients. Although current three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting approaches can be used to manufacture customized valve prostheses, they still have some complications, such as limited biocompatibility, constrained structural complexity, and difficulty to make heterogeneous constructs, to name a few. To overcome these challenges, a sacrificial scaffold-assisted direct ink writing approach has been explored and proposed in this work, in which a sacrificial scaffold is printed to temporarily support sinus wall and overhanging leaflets of an aortic valve prosthesis that can be removed easily and mildly without causing any potential damages to the valve prosthesis. The bioinks, composed of alginate, gelatin, and nanoclay, used to print heterogenous valve prostheses have been designed in terms of rheological/mechanical properties and filament formability. The sacrificial ink made from Pluronic F127 has been developed by evaluating rheological behavior and gel temperature. After investigating the effects of operating conditions, complex 3D structures and homogenous/heterogenous aortic valve prostheses have been successfully printed. Lastly, numerical simulation and cycling experiments have been performed to validate the function of the printed valve prostheses as one-way valves.
Severe skin injuries can cause serious problems, which could affect the patient's normal life, if not dealt properly in a timely and effective manner. It is an urgent requirement to develop personalized wound dressings with excellent antibacterial activity and biocompatibility to match the shape of the wound to facilitate clinical application. In this study, a bioink (GAQ) based on gelatin (Gel)/sodium alginate (SA)/ quaternized chitosan (QCS) was prepared, and GAQ hydrogel dressing grafting with dopamine (GADQ) was fabricated by an extrusion three-dimensional (3D) printing technology. QCS was synthesized by modifying quaternary ammonium group on chitosan, and its structure was successfully characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Our results showed that the GADQ hydrogel dressing that was double-crosslinked by EDC/ NHS and Ca2+ had good tensile strength, considerable swelling ratio, and effective antioxidation properties. It also showed that GADQ1.5% had 93.17% and 91.06% antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, respectively. Furthermore, the relative survival ratios of fibroblast cells seeded on these hydrogels exceeded 350% after cultured for 7 days, which proved the biocompatibility of these hydrogels. Overall, this advanced 3D-printed GADQ1.5% hydrogels with effective antioxidation, excellent antibacterial activity and good biocompatibility had a considerable application potential for wound healing.
It is critical to explore the effects of electromagnetic field (EMF) on the construction of functional osteochondral tissue, which has shown certain clinical significance for the treatment of osteochondral injury. At present, there are few studies on the effect of the direction of EMF on cells. This study aimed to investigate the effects of EMF coupling on different parameters to control adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) proliferation and specific chondrogenic and osteogenic differentiation at 2D level and 3D level. The proliferation and differentiation of EMF-induced ADSCs are jointly regulated by EMF and space structure. In this study, Cs7/Gel3/nHAP scaffolds were prepared with good degradation rate (86.75 ± 4.96 %) and absorb water (1100 %), and the pore size was 195.63 ± 54.72 μm. The bone-derived scaffold with a pore size of 267.17 ± 129.18 μm was obtained and its main component was hydroxyapatite. Cs7/Gel3/nHAP scaffolds and bone-derived scaffolds are suitable as 3D level materials. The optimal EMF intensity was 2 mT for chondrogenic differentiation and proliferation and 1 mT for osteogenic differentiation and proliferation. It is noteworthy that EMF has a negative correlation with ADSCs proliferation in the vertical direction at 2D level, while it has a positive correlation with ADSCs proliferation at 3D level. EMF mediated 3D osteochondral scaffold provide good strategy for osteochondral tissue engineering construction.
109Tissue-engineered scaffolds are more commonly used to construct three-dimensional (3D) tumor models for in vitro studies when compared to the conventional two-dimensional (2D) cell culture because the microenvironments provided by the 3D tumor models closely resemble the in vivo system and could achieve higher success rate when the scaffolds are translated for use in pre-clinical animal model. Physical properties, heterogeneity, and cell behaviors of the model could be regulated to simulate different tumors by changing the components and concentrations of materials. In this study, a novel 3D breast tumor model was fabricated by bioprinting using a bioink that consists of porcine liver-derived decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) with different concentrations of gelatin and sodium alginate. Primary cells were removed while extracellular matrix components of porcine liver were preserved. The rheological properties of biomimetic bioinks and the physical properties of hybrid scaffolds were investigated, and we found that the addition of gelatin increased hydrophilia and viscoelasticity, while the addition of alginate increased mechanical properties and porosity. The swelling ratio, compression modulus, and porosity could reach 835.43 ± 130.61%, 9.64 ± 0.41 kPa, and 76.62 ± 4.43%, respectively. L929 cells and the mouse breast tumor cells 4T1 were subsequently inoculated to evaluate biocompatibility of the scaffolds and to form the 3D models. The results showed that all scaffolds exhibited good biocompatibility, and the average diameter of tumor spheres could reach 148.52 ± 8.02 μm on 7 d. These findings suggest that the 3D breast tumor model could serve as an effective platform for anticancer drug screening and cancer research in vitro.
Cardiovascular diseases and vascular trauma can be commonly found in the population. Scholars worldwide hope to develop small-diameter vascular grafts that can replace autologous vessels for clinical use. Decellularized blood vessels can retain the original morphology, structure, and physical properties of blood vessels, which is conducive to cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation. In this study, porcine coronary arteries (PCAs) were decellularized to prepare decellularized porcine coronary artery (DPCA), and bilayer hybrid scaffolds were prepared by coating gelatin and sodium alginate mixed hydrogel of seven different proportions and combined with mouse fibroblasts (L929 cells) to study the construction of tissue engineering vessels in vitro. The obtained bilayer hybrid scaffolds were 3-7 cm in length, 5 mm in external diameter, and 1 mm in average wall thickness. All seven bilayer hybrid scaffolds showed good biocompatibility after cell inoculation. Compared with 2D culture, cells on 3D scaffolds grew relatively slowly in the first 4 days, and the number of cells proliferated rapidly at 7 days. In the same culture days, different concentrations of hydrogel also had an impact on cell proliferation. With the increase of hydrogel content, cells on the 3D scaffold formed cell colonies faster. The results showed that the scaffold had good biocompatibility and could meet the needs of artificial blood vessel construction.
Real-time renal imaging is indispensable for monitoring kidney-related disease processes and evaluating the nephrotoxicity of nanoprobes. Owing to their small size, tunable photoluminescence properties, and low biotoxicity, carbon dots (CDs) are widely employed as nanoprobes for imaging-guided disease diagnosis. However, the preparation of near-infrared CDs is a stupendous challenging. Here, CDs with near-infrared fluorescence (NIR-CDs) were prepared by one-pot pyrolysis and were comprehensively evaluated for real-time renal imaging. The NIR-CDs possessed super-small size (1.8 +/- 0.2 nm) and high quantum yield (14.3% in aqueous solution) at 696 nm. NIR-CDs exhibited high-efficiency renal clearance at 24 h post-treatment (97.47-99.27% ID) via glomerular filtration. The irreversible clearance of NIR-CDs enables effective real-time monitoring of kidney function in the normal and acute kidney injury (AKI) mouse models. Consequently, NIR-CDs can be utilized for imaging analyses of impaired kidney function, pioneering a serviceable guideline for neoapplications of NIR-CDs.
Compared with conventional therapeutic approaches, nanomedicines are attracting a growing interest due to their better targeting ability, higher delivery efficiency, and good water solubility. However, conventional drug efficacy assessment methods are based on a two-dimensional (2D) culture approach of single cells to obtain in vitro therapeutic effects, which may not be representative of actual tumors. Based on the above considerations, the three-dimensional (3D) cell culture models became a better choice since they can increase the complexity of in vitro systems and provide a biomimetic microenvironment that is closer to the in vivo native than 2D cultures. In our study, curcumin nanoparticle (CurNPs) with good water solubility and good tumor therapeutic effects were prepared by combining polymeric non-ionic surfactant (Pluronic F127) with curcumin. The hybrid scaffolds based on nano-clay, sodium alginate, and gelatin were also prepared, which showed good printability and excellent biocompatibility. We then studied the therapeutic effects of CurNPs on metastatic breast cancer using a 3D tumor model fabricated with scaffold-bound metastatic breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) cells. It was showed that the 3D cell model presented better cell proliferation effect while compared with 2D version. Additionally, there was good enhanced permeability and retention effect when CurNPs entered with better accumulate in 3D cell ‘tumor’ sites which represented more realistic response of a more real tumor treatment effect for breast cancer cells. Our study indicated that the combinational of nanomaterials with 3D cell ‘tumor’ models provided an alternative and better platform for drug screening and has great potential be used as safe and effective treatment screening for breast cancer.
Cardiovascular diseases and vascular trauma can be commonly found in the population. Scholars worldwide hope to develop small-diameter vascular grafts that can replace autologous vessels for clinical use. Decellularized blood vessels can retain the original morphology, structure, and physical properties of blood vessels, which is conducive to cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation. In this study, porcine coronary arteries (PCAs) were decellularized to prepare decellularized porcine coronary artery (DPCA), and bilayer hybrid scaffolds were prepared by coating gelatin and sodium alginate mixed hydrogel of seven different proportions and combined with mouse fibroblasts (L929 cells) to study the construction of tissue engineering vessels in vitro. The obtained bilayer hybrid scaffolds were 3–7 cm in length, 5 mm in external diameter, and 1 mm in average wall thickness. All seven bilayer hybrid scaffolds showed good biocompatibility after cell inoculation. Compared with 2D culture, cells on 3D scaffolds grew relatively slowly in the first 4 days, and the number of cells proliferated rapidly at 7 days. In the same culture days, different concentrations of hydrogel also had an impact on cell proliferation. With the increase of hydrogel content, cells on the 3D scaffold formed cell colonies faster. The results showed that the scaffold had good biocompatibility and could meet the needs of artificial blood vessel construction.
Currently, a suitable bioink for 3D bioprinting and capable of mimicking the microenvironment of native skin and preventing bacterial infection remains a major challenge in skin tissue engineering. In this study, we pre-pared a tissue-specific extracellular matrix-based bioink, and dECM/Gel/QCS (dGQ) 3D scaffold assembling with poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) (dGQP) was obtained by an extrusion 3D bioprinting technology and dynamic hydrogen bonding method. The morphologies, mechanical properties, porosity, hydrophilicity, biodegradation, hemostatic effect, antibacterial ability, and biocompatibility of the hybrid scaffolds were characterized and evaluated. Re-sults showed that the rapid release (2 h) of PILs on the dGQP scaffold can quickly kill gram-negative (E. coli) and gram-positive (S. aureus) bacteria with almost 100 % antibacterial activity and maintained a stable sterile environment for a long time (7 d), which was superior to the dGQ scaffold. The hemostasis and hemolysis test showed that the dGQP scaffold had a good hemostatic effect and excellent hemocompatibility. In vitro cyto-compatibility studies showed that although the cell growth on dGQP scaffold was slow in the early stage, the cells proliferated rapidly since day 4 and had high ECM secretion at day 7. Overall, this advanced dGQP scaffold has a considerable potential to be applied in skin tissue engineering.
碳点作为新兴的碳纳米材料之一,由于具有低细胞毒性、强亲水性、良好的生物相容性、优异的光稳定性、可调的发光和易于修饰等独特的理化特性,在生物医学领域具有广泛的应用前景.本综述主要阐述了碳点在生物成像、药物/染料/蛋白/基因的递送和癌症诊断治疗等方面的应用,并探讨了其在生物医学领域应用的当前挑战和未来前景.
Recently, organic dyes with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) have attracted much attention in bioimaging and diagnostics. Relatively, the application of traditional dyes has diminished because of aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ). In this work, we compare the imaging ability of nanoparticle formulations of these two kinds of dyes. Boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) was chosen as a representative of the ACQ dyes, and an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) dye BPMT was used for comparison. BODIPY and BPMT were entrapped into PEG(5k)-PLA(10k) to form BODIPY-loaded NPs (BNPs) and BPMT-loaded NPs (ANPs), respectively. In vivo and ex vivo imaging demonstrated that BNP1 with ultralow BODIPY load (0.07%) can effectively accumulate in tumor tissues and enable long-term noninvasive imaging. In contrast, ANP4 with high BPMT load (1.6%) has poor bioimaging ability. In general, our work has certain reference significance for the application of ACQ dyes and AlEgens in bioimaging, diagnostics, and theranostics. Statement of Significance In this work, Boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) was chosen as a representative of ACQ dyes. As a control, (Z)-2-(4'-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)-[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl)-3-(7-(4-(bis(4methoxyphenyl)amino) phenyl) benzo[c] [1,2,5] thiadiazol-4-yl) acrylonitrile (BPMT) was selected as an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) dye. BODIPY and BPMT was entrapped into PEG5k-PLA10k to form BODIPY-loaded NPs (BNPs) and BPMT-loaded NPs (ANPs), respectively. In vivo and ex vivo imaging demonstrated that BNP1 with ultralow BODIPY load (0.07%) can effectively accumulate in tumor tissues and realize long-term noninvasive imaging. The weaknesses of ACQ effect can be converted into advantages by skillful use of nanotechnology, which can not only save the cost but also realize high efficiency targeted cancer imaging. (C) 2020 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A new type of fluorine-doped carbon dots (FCDs) with the nucleus-targeting capability was prepared and utilized as a promising candidate for drug and dye delivery. Doxorubicin (DOX) and boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) was used as a model drug and dye, respectively, to construct FCD-DOX and FCD-BODIPY nanocomposites via coassembly with FCDs. The results demonstrate that FCDs can remarkably increase the cellular uptake and delivery of DOX and BODIPY. This work developed a convenient strategy to construct CDs-based nanohybrids for nucleus-targeted bioimaging and cancer treatment.
Carbon dots (CDs) are emerging as powerful nanoprobes for multiple-model bioimaging. Nowadays, orthotopic xenograft models attract increasing attention because of their superiorities of duplicating the tumor microenvironment. However, compared with the extensive study of subcutaneous xenograft tumors, less attention has been paid to CDs for in vivo orthotopic tumor imaging. Furthermore, it is very desirable for a nanoprobe to achieve preferential accumulation at the tumor site and efficient renal clearance. In this work, a novel kind of Hafnium-doped CDs (HfCDs) were successfully prepared via a simple one-pot pyrolysis method. The significant advantages including robust stability, good biocompatibility, excellent water solubility, remarkable computed tomography (CT) contrast performance and preferential tumor accumulation capability endow HfCDs with particular functions of CT/fluorescence imaging of orthotopic liver cancer initially. More importantly, HfCDs could locate at the tumor site and achieve the rapid imaging within 1 min. The findings of the current study represent a facile and universal approach to fabricate outstanding renal clearable multimodal imaging nanoprobes with great potential for clinical diagnosis.