Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Anticancer Efficacy of Photodynamic Therapy with Lung Cancer-Targeted Nanoparticles
Published on: December 1, 2016
Functional black phosphorus nanosheets for mitochondria-targeting photothermal/photodynamic synergistic cancer
Xiaoyan Yang1, Dongya Wang1, Jiawei Zhu1
1Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (KLOFE) , Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM) , School of Physical and Mathematical Science , Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech) , 30 South Puzhu Road , Nanjing 211800 , China . Email: iamxcdong@njtech.edu.cn ; Email: iammlv@njtech.edu.cn ;
Abstract:
Organelle-targeting nanosystems are envisioned as promising tools for phototherapy, which can generate heat or reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced cytotoxicity in the targeted location but leave the surrounding biological tissues undamaged. In this work, an imaging-guided mitochondria-targeting photothermal/photodynamic nanosystem has been developed on the basis of functionalized black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets (NSs). In the nanosystem, BP NSs are coated with polydopamine (PDA) and then covalently linked with both chlorin e6 (Ce6) and triphenyl phosphonium (TPP) through carbodiimide reaction between the amino group and the carboxyl group, forming BP@PDA-Ce6&TPP NSs. Due to the strong absorbance of BP@PDA in the near-infrared region and the highly efficient ROS generation of Ce6, the as-prepared nanosystem with mitochondria-targeting capacity (TPP moiety) shows remarkably enhanced efficiency in cancer cell killing. Combined photothermal and photodynamic therapy is implemented and monitored by in vivo fluorescence imaging, achieving excellent performance in inhibiting tumor growth. This study presents a novel nanotheranostic agent for mitochondria-targeting phototherapy, which may open new horizons for biomedicine.
Related Concept Videos
Targeted Cancer Therapies
There are several types of targeted therapies against...
Cancer Therapies
However, cancer treatments can pose several challenges, as therapies used to kill cancer cells are generally also toxic to normal cells. Moreover, cancer cells mutate rapidly and can develop resistance to chemical agents or radiation therapy. Besides, all types of cancer cells may not respond to the same therapy. Some cancer cells respond to one...
Peroxisomes and Mitochondria
The peroxisome is a single membrane-bound cellular organelle that can perform several different functions, including lipid metabolism and chemical detoxification. The enzymes within...
The Phosphorus Cycle
Mitochondria
Detection of Black Holes
Their closest cousins are neutron stars, which are composed almost entirely of neutrons packed against each other, making them extremely dense. A neutron star has the same mass as the Sun but its diameter is only a few kilometers. Therefore, the escape velocity from their surface is close to the speed of light.
Not until the 1960s, when the first neutron...

