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The treatment of liver injuries or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been hindered by the lack of efficient drug delivery. Even with the help of nanoparticles or other synthetic delivering agents, a large portion of the dose is still sequestered in the reticuloendothelial system. As an alternative, adipose-derived mesenchymal cells (AD-MSCs), which have the capability of homing to the injured liver, can be used as a unique carrier for theranostic agents. Theranostic agents must have the capacity for being non-toxic to host cells during transportation, and for timely activation once they arrive at the injury sites. In this study, we loaded AD-MSCs with superparamagnetic iron oxide-coated gold nanoparticles (SPIO@ AuNPs) and tested their effects against liver injury and HCC in cells and in mice. SPIO@ AuNP is a non-toxic magnetic resonance (MR)-active contrast agent that can generate heat when irradiated with near …