Recent Organic Photosensitizer Designs for Evoking Proinflammatory Regulated Cell Death in Antitumor Immunotherapy

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cancer Research
• Immunology

Background:

• Immunotherapy has shown success in cancer treatment, but faces challenges with
• cold
• tumor microenvironments (TME) in solid tumors, leading to low immune response.
• Pro-inflammatory regulated cell death (RCD) pathways like ferroptosis and pyroptosis can remodel the TME and activate anti-tumor immunity.
• Conventional chemotherapy drugs for RCD induction have limitations, including adverse effects and drug resistance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the design strategies of organic photosensitizer (PS) probes for cancer immunotherapy.
• To discuss the potential of PS-based materials in inducing tumor-specific RCD.
• To highlight advancements and future perspectives in PS-mediated RCD for cancer immunotherapy.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent literature on organic photosensitizers and their application in cancer immunotherapy.
• Analysis of design strategies for PS probes targeting RCD induction.
• Discussion of mechanisms for spatiotemporal regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling pathways.

Main Results:

• Organic photosensitizers enable precise spatiotemporal control over RCD induction.
• PS-based materials can overcome challenges associated with conventional chemotherapy in RCD-mediated immunotherapy.
• PS probes demonstrate potential for tumor-specific RCD induction, enhancing immunogenicity.

Conclusions:

• Organic photosensitizer-based materials represent a promising strategy for overcoming the immunosuppressive TME in cancer immunotherapy.
• PS probes offer a novel platform for precise RCD induction, leading to enhanced anti-tumor immune responses.
• Further research into PS design and application holds significant potential for advancing cancer treatment.