Gadolinium(III) complexes have been widely utilised as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents for decades. In recent years however, concerns have developed about their toxicity, believed to derive from demetallation of the complexes in vivo, and the relatively large quantities of compound required for a successful scan. Recent efforts have sought to enhance the relaxivity of trivalent gadolinium complexes without sacrificing their stability. This review aims to examine the strategic design of ligands synthesised for this purpose, provide an overview of recent successes in gadolinium-based contrast agent development and assess the requirements for clinical translation.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects more than 90% of humans worldwide and establishes lifelong latent infection in the hosts. It is closely associated with endemic forms of a wide range of human cancers and directly contributes to the formation of some. Despite its critical role in cancer development, no EBV- or EBV latent protein-targeted therapy is available. The EBV-encoded latent protein, Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen 1 (EBNA1), is expressed in all EBV-associated tumors and acts as the only latent protein in some of these tumors. This versatile protein functions in the maintenance, replication, and segregation of the EBV genome and can therefore serve as an attractive therapeutic target to treat EBV-associated cancers. In the last decades, efforts have been made for designing specific EBNA1 inhibitors to decrease EBNA1 expression or interfere with EBNA1-dependent functions. In this review, we will briefly introduce the salient features of EBNA1, summarize its functional domains, and focus on the recent developments in the identification and design of EBNA1 inhibitors related to various EBNA1 domains as well as discuss their comparative merits.

A water-soluble light-responsive antitumor agent, PtEuL, based on a cisplatin-linked europium–cyclen complex has been synthesized and evaluated for controlled cisplatin release by linear/two-photon excitation in vitro with concomitant turn-on and long-lived europium emission as a responsive traceable signal.

Two novel porphyrin compounds Pt-Por-RB and Me-Por-RB were synthesized and characterized. Compared with Me-Por-RB, Pt-Por-RB was internalized not only in organelles, but also in nuclei of HeLa cells, indicating that it is an effective dual-targeted PDT agent.

Theranostic photodynamic nanomaterials suffer from poor water solubility and nontargeted toxicity. A water‐soluble graphitic‐phase carbon nitride‐based material (g‐C₃N₄) conjugated to a positively charged porphyrin P2 (conjugating concentration: 60 μm mg⁻¹ mL⁻¹) is shown to be a new concept of photodynamic therapeutic agent (g‐C₃N₄–P2). The pH‐sensitive emission of g‐C₃N₄ is the driving force for the generation of ¹O₂ from g‐C₃N₄–P2. The amount of ¹O₂/light generated from a photosensitizer porphyrin can be controlled by the pH‐sensitive emission of g‐C₃N₄ at acidic pH (pH 4–6), especially under acidic conditions mimicking those of tumor tissue, and thus has the potential to be utilized as a cancer‐selective PDT agent.