Highly-efficient photosensitizer based on AIEgen-decorated porphyrin for protein photocleaving

An AIEgen decorated porphyrin (TPETPyP) was easily obtained through a one-step reaction. The bulky TPE in TPETPyP greatly impeded the intermolecular π-π stacking of the porphyrin core, which significantly suppressed aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect of TPETPyP in aqueous solution. The four pyridinium salts formed in TPETPyP also render the whole molecule water solubility, which eliminated its aggregation. TPETPyP exhibited ¹O₂ quantum yield as high as 0.85 in PBS. Moreover, it also showed high binding affinity to proteins, the major biotarget of ¹O₂. The high ¹O₂ quantum yield plus the great binding ability of TPETPyP toward proteins makes it a highly-efficient protein photocleaving agent. Protein electrophoresis experiments demonstrated that TPETPyP can photocleave BSA upon visible light irradiation, indicating that TPETPyP can act as a promising photosensitizer (PS) in PDT. The work here will provide a facile strategy to utilize AIEgens modified traditional PSs for photodynamic therapy (PDT).