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Photodynamic Therapy with Blended Conducting Polymer/Fullerene Nanoparticle Photosensitizers
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From Small Molecules to Polymers: Developing Non-Fullerene Acceptors for Efficient NIR Photothermal Cancer Therapy
Yulia A Isaeva1, Elizaveta D Blagodarnaia1, Anastasia A Vetyugova1
1Enikolopov Institute of Synthetic Polymeric Materials, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya St. 70, Moscow 117393, Russia.
Polymers
|December 31, 2025
Summary
New polymer-based organic photothermal agents show enhanced stability and tunable properties for low-invasive cancer therapy. These agents demonstrate superior phototoxicity compared to small molecules, highlighting the advantages of polymeric materials in photothermal therapy.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Biomedical Engineering
- Organic Chemistry
Background:
- Developing stable organic photothermal agents with tunable electronic properties is crucial for advancing low-invasive cancer therapy.
- Non-fullerene acceptors offer promising scaffolds for designing novel photothermal agents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize and evaluate three conjugated photothermal agents (BTPT-OD, r-BTPT, ir-BTPT) inspired by non-fullerene Y-series acceptors.
- To compare the photothermal efficacy and phototoxicity of small molecule and polymeric derivatives for cancer therapy.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of small molecule (BTPT-OD) and polymer (r-BTPT, ir-BTPT) photothermal agents.
- Nanoparticle formation via nanoprecipitation and characterization (size, surface charge).
- In vitro phototoxicity assays on human carcinoma cell lines (A-549, Sk-Br-3, MCF-7) upon irradiation.
- Measurement of photothermal conversion efficiency and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation.
Main Results:
- All synthesized compounds formed stable nanoparticles (13-39 nm) with negative surface charges.
- Polymeric NPs (r-BTPT, ir-BTPT) exhibited 22- to 40-fold greater phototoxicity than the small molecule (BTPT-OD) at 730 nm.
- Photothermal conversion efficiencies ranged from 24-27 ± 5%, with low intracellular ROS generation.
Conclusions:
- Polymeric non-fullerene acceptor-based photothermal agents demonstrate superior efficacy compared to their small molecule counterparts.
- Heat-mediated photothermal therapy is a more significant predictor of cell death than ROS-mediated photodynamic therapy in this system.
- This study highlights the advantages of using polymers for developing advanced photothermal agents for cancer therapy.
