A NIR-I light-responsive superoxide radical generator with cancer cell membrane targeting ability for enhanced
Yingcui Bu1, Tianren Xu1, Xiaojiao Zhu1
1College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Materials Chemistry of Anhui Province, Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials, Anhui University, Ministry of Education Hefei 230601 P. R. China xiaojzhu@ahu.edu.cn zhpzhp@263.net.
Abstract:
Photodynamic therapy (PDT), as an emerging treatment modality, which takes advantage of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated upon light illumination to ablate tumours, has suffered from a limited treatment depth, strong oxygen dependence and short ROS lifespan. Herein, we developed a highly efficient NIR-I light (808 nm laser) initiated theranostic system based on a fluorescent photosensitizer (EBD-1) with cancer cell membrane targeting ability, which can realize large penetration depth in tissue, generate superoxide radicals (O2 -˙) to relieve the oxygen-dependence, confine the ROS oxidation at the cell membrane, and self-report the cell viability during the PDT process. In vivo experiments demonstrated that EBD-1 under 808 nm light successfully accomplished remarkable cancer ablation. This work will be beneficial for the design of novel photosensitizers for PDT-based theranostic systems.
