Engineering pH-Responsive BODIPY Nanoparticles for Tumor Selective Multimodal Imaging and Phototherapy

Area of Science:

• Organic Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Developing single-molecule theranostic agents for cancer imaging and therapy presents significant challenges.
• Existing agents often lack high signal-to-noise ratios for imaging or sufficient therapeutic efficacy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and evaluate a series of BODIPY (BDP) derivatives as multifunctional theranostic agents.
• To investigate the structure-property relationships governing BDP's imaging and therapeutic capabilities.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis and screening of various BODIPY derivatives with tailored absorption and fluorescence properties.
• Detailed study of molecular structure, pH sensitivity, and photodynamic/photothermal activities.
• Utilizing photoinduced electron transfer, intramolecular charge transfer, and heavy atom effects for molecular engineering.

Main Results:

• Engineered BDP molecules demonstrated combined tumor imaging and therapeutic functions.
• BDP nanoparticle formulations exhibited selective cancer cell treatment.
• Achieved near-infrared fluorescence, photoacoustic, and computed tomography imaging capabilities.
• Validated potent photodynamic and photothermal therapeutic effects in cellular and animal models.

Conclusions:

• The developed BDP nanoparticles offer a promising platform for multifunctional theranostics.
• This work provides a novel strategy for designing organic dyes for enhanced tumor imaging and phototherapy.