Engineering Mitochondria Targeting Near-Infrared AIE Fluorescent Probes and Image-Guided Photodynamic Therapy

Mitochondria play a very important role in the process of cell metabolism and apoptosis, and their morphology is closely related to the deterioration of some diseases. Aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) are a promising biological imaging material due to their good stability and have been widely used in organelle targeting, localization, and tracking of cell metabolism. In this study, a near-infrared fluorescence molecule with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties was synthesized. The molecule has the characteristics of a large Stokes shift and good biocompatibility. This molecule can specifically target mitochondria in cells and can effectively produce ROS and kill cancer cells under white light irradiation, showing an excellent photodynamic therapy (PDT) effect in cells.