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Updated: Apr 28, 2026

Synthesis of Core-shell Lanthanide-doped Upconversion Nanocrystals for Cellular Applications
Published on: November 10, 2017
Lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles electrostatically coupled with photosensitizers for
Meng Wang1, Zhuo Chen, Wei Zheng
1Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials Chemistry and Physics, Key Laboratory of Design and Assembly of Functional Nanostructures, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China. xchen@fjirsm.ac.cn.
Abstract:
Lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have recently shown great promise in photodynamic therapy (PDT). Herein, we report a facile strategy to fabricate an efficient NIR-triggered PDT system based on LiYF4:Yb/Er UCNPs coupled with a photosensitizer of a β-carboxyphthalocyanine zinc (ZnPc-COOH) molecule via direct electrostatic interaction. Due to the close proximity between UCNPs and ZnPc-COOH, we achieved a high energy transfer efficiency of 96.3% from UCNPs to ZnPc-COOH, which facilitates a large production of cytotoxic singlet oxygen and thus an enhanced PDT efficacy. Furthermore, we demonstrate the high efficacy of such a NIR-triggered PDT agent for the inhibition of tumor growth both in vitro and in vivo, thereby revealing the great potential of the UCNP-based PDT systems as noninvasive NIR-triggered PDT agents for deep cancer therapy.
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