A smart DNA nanodevice for ATP-activatable bioimaging and photodynamic therapy

Rational design of activatable photosensitizers for controlled generation of singlet oxygen remains a challenge for precise photodynamic therapy(PDT). Herein, we present an aptamer-based nanodevice for adenosine 5′-triphosphate(ATP)-activatable bioimaging and PDT. The nanodevice is constructed by modifying ATP-responsive duplex DNA units and polyethylene glycol on the surface of a gold nanoparticle(AuNP) through the thiolate-Au chemistry. The DNA units were designed by the hybridization of the ATP aptamer strand with a methylene blue(MB)-modified complementary DNA(cDNA). The close proximity of MB to the surface of AuNP results in the low photodynamic activity of MB(OFF state). Once internalized into cancer cells, the ATP-binding induced conformation switch of aptamer strand leads to the release of the MB-bearing DNA strand from AuNPs, resulting in the activatable generation of singlet oxygen under light irradiation(ON state). We demonstrate that the DNA nanodevice represents a promising platform for ATP-responsive bioimaging and specific PDT in vitro and in vivo. This work highlights a potential way for specific tumor diagnosis and therapy.     

Radical induced quartet photosensitizers with high ~1O_2 production for in vivo cancer photodynamic therapy

Singlet oxygen(¹O₂) is a strong oxidant which plays important roles in photodynamic therapy(PDT). The exploitation of photosensitizers with high ¹O₂ production is crucial to improve PDT efficiency. In this study, a radical labeled quartet photosensitizer Cy-DENT is reported with high singlet oxygen quantum yield(Φ_Δ=32.3%) due to a radical enhanced inter-system crossing(ISC) process. After the introduction of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyloxy(TEMPO) radical, quartet state ⁴[R,T] of CyDENT could be formed to give an over 20-fold enhancement of singlet oxygen quantum yield compared to Cy-DEN(without TEMPO radical) under irradiation of near infrared(NIR) light. In addition, the ¹O_(2 )production is well controlled by varying the electron-donating ability of the terminal substituent group. Cy-DENT possesses good cell permeability and is localized in mitochondria. Under the irradiation of 700 nm light, Cy-DENT can produce high levels of ROS to destroy the mitochondria membrane potential and induce cell apoptosis. Through the encapsulation of PEG-SS-PCL micelle, Cy-DENT can be effectively delivered to tumors and suppresses the tumor growth after PDT treatment.     

Mitochondria-localized iridium(Ⅲ) complexes with anthraquinone groups as effective photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy under hypoxia

Photodynamic therapy(PDT) is a potential way for the tumor treatment. However, it notably suffers the limitation of hypoxia in solid tumors. Thus, it is significant to develop effective photosensitizers which can exhibit excellent therapeutic performance under both normoxia and hypoxia. Herein, we reported four ionic iridium(III) complexes(Ir1–Ir4) with anthraquinone groups which can regulate their excited state energy levels effectively. Among them, the energy gap of Ir1 was between 1.63 and2.21 e V, which can match well with that of O_2, and the HOMO energy of Ir1 is less than-5.51 e V. Compared with Ir2–Ir4, the luminescent quantum efficiency of Ir1 was the highest. Particularly, Ir1 can specifically target the mitochondria of the tumor cells. Meanwhile, Ir1 showed high singlet oxygen quantum yields(ΦΔ) in both solutions and living cells with low cytotoxicity.The results of PDT experiments revealed that Ir1, as a photosensitizer, exhibited excellent therapeutic effect not only in normoxia but also in hypoxia condition. We believe that this work is meaningful for developing excellent PDT agents based on cyclometalated Ir(III) complexes via rational ligand modification.     

Recent Progress in Boosted PDT Induced Immunogenic Cell Death for Tumor Immunotherapy

With the rapid development of materials science,photosensitive materials have been widely used in the field of immunogenic cell death(ICD),which was on account of the reactive oxygen species(ROS)generation by photosensitizer under light irradiation inducing cellular oxidative stress during the dying of cells.Considerable researches related to photodynamic therapy(PDT)induced ICD were conducted and exhibited brilliant performance in cancer immunotherapy.Herein,a variety of different strategies for PDT induced ICD have been summarized and discussed to provide researchers more inspiration for cancer immunotherapy.     

Synthesis and Properties of An Aminated hypocrellin B

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), using red light and photosensitizers (Sens ), is a promising new treatment for tumor. The naturally occurred hypocrellins,including hypocrellin A (HA) and hypocrellin B (HB,1), have been proposed as the potential photosensitizers for PDT. It has been the subject of many investigations to improve the red absorption and water-solubility of natural hypocrellins by the structural modifications1~3. In this paper, a new derivative 2 was synthesized from 1 and charact…     

Cleavable bimetallic-organic polymers for ROS mediated cascaded cancer therapy under the guidance of MRI through tumor hypoxia relief strategy

Despite recent advances in tumor treatment, reactive oxygen species(ROS)-mediated therapy, such as photodynamic therapy(PDT) and chemical dynamic therapy(CDT), remains challenging mainly due to hypoxia in tumor microenviroment. Relieving the hypoxia of tumor tissue has been considered as an attractive strategy for enhancing efficacy of ROS-based cancer treatment.Herein, one cascaded platform was developed to overcome tumor hypoxia and synergistically enhance the effect of ROSmediated therapy. This platform is based on cleavable bimetallic metal organic polymers(DOX@Fe/Mn-THPPTK-PEG). As an efficient Fenton-like material, it could not only produce cytotoxic ·OH by catalyzing the decomposition of intracellular H_2O_2, but also generate O_2 to alleviate tumor hypoxia. In addition, the DOX-loaded metal organic polymers(MOPs could be disrupted after being exposed to laser irradiation or/and treated with H_2O_2, and then release the DOX for chemotherapy. Overall, 3 therapies(hypoxia-relieved PDT, photo-enhanced CDT, and ROS-mediated chemotherapy) could be achieved simultaneously by such a smart platform. Furthermore, T_1-weighted MRI imaging ability of the MOPs could be greatly improved under H_2O_2 treatment.Therefore, total four robust functions were realized in a simple platform. These findings demonstrate great clinical potentials of the MOPs for cancer theranostics.     

Synthesis,Characterization, and Linear and Nonlinear Optical Properties of Phenylene-vinylene Based Chromophores for Singlet Oxygen Generation

A series of symmetrical and unsymmetrical phenylene-vinylene （PV） based chro- mophores with the molecular configuration of donor-π-donor （D-g-D） were prepared and characterized. Iodine was first introduced into the Jr-conjugation backbone of the PV based chromophores in order to study the heavy atom effect on their linear absorption, two-photon absorption （TPA） properties, as well as singlet oxygen generation properties. TPA cross-sections of these chromophores were investigated by using the two-photon excited fluorescence method. The unsymmetrical chromophores were found to have larger TPA cross-section values compared to their symmetrical counterparts. For one of the unsymmetrical chromophores with the iodine incorporation, a large TPA cross section value with quenched emission was found. The decreased fluorescence quantum yield of a molecule can be ascribed to the increased intersystem crossing, which is favorable for enhancing the singlet oxygen generation. Therefore, the unsymmetrical PV based chromophores with heavy atom incorporation are promising singlet oxygen sensitizers for the photodynamic therapy application.     

Synthesis,Spectroscopic Properties,and Photodynamic Anticancer Activities of Novel Arginine-modified Silicon(Ⅳ) Phthalocyanines

We design and synthesize a series of novel silicon(IV)phthalocyanines(SiPcs,1a,2a,1b,and 2b)axially conjugated with arginine or arginine-containing oligopeptides(Arg-Arg,Cys-Arg,Cys-Arg-Arg)through ester or ether linkers to demonstrate the effects of substituents and coupling ways on the spectral behaviors and photodynamic activities.The ester-linked SiPcs(1a and 2a)show slight red-shift,higher fluorescence emission and singlet oxygen generation compared to the ether-linked analogues(1b and 2b)due to the stronger electron-withdrawing ability of the ester group,suggesting that electronic effect of the linkers plays an important role in their spectral properties.The introduction of arginine could effectively reduce the aggregation of phthalocyanine in aqueous solutions.With higher cellular uptake and plasma membrane localization ability,1b and 2b exhibit significantly higher photocytotoxicity against both HepG2 and Hela cells.Moreover,the in vivo fluorescence imaging suggests that 2b is the most specific toward H22 tumor-bearing ICR mice,and it shows efficient tumor growth inhibition with the tumor inhibition rate up to 93%.Thus,this work would provide a new reference for the development of phthalocyanine-based photosensitizers.     

Mitochondrion-anchoring AIEgen with Large Stokes Shift for Imaging-guided Photodynamic Therapy

Photosensitizers that can target and accumulate in mitochondria are expected to achieve good therapeutic effects in photodynamic therapy,as mitochondria are the energy generation factory in cells.Herein,we designed and synthesized a novel mitochondrion-targeting photosensitizer TPC-Py with aggregation-induced emission characteristics for image-guided photodynamic therapy.TPC-Py possessed an efficient production of 1O2,with a quantum yield of 11.65%,upon mild white light irradiation(6 mW/cm²).TPC-Py exhibited good biocompatibility under dark condition,but showed remarkable cytotoxicity towards human cervical carcinoma(HeLa)cells with a half maximal inhibitory concentration(IC50)of 3.2μmol/L when exposed to white light irradiation(14.4 J/cm²).In addition,the Stokes shift of TPC-Py was as high as 150 nm,so that it could prevent self-absorption and increase the signal-to-noise ratio of fluorescence imaging.The excellent performance of TPC-Py makes it a promising candidate in imaging-guided clinical PDT for cancer in the near future.     

An acid-triggered porphyrin-based block copolymer for enhanced photodynamic antibacterial efficacy

Bacterial infection, especially multidrug-resistant(MDR) bacterial infection has threatened public health drastically. Here, we fabricate an "acid-triggered" nanoplatform for enhanced photodynamic antibacterial activity by reducing the aggregation of photosensitizers(PSs) in bacterial acidic microenvironment. Specifically, a functional amphiphilic block copolymer was first synthesized by using a pH-sensitive monomer, 2-(diisopropylamino) ethyl methacrylate(DPA) and porphyrin-based methacrylate(TPPC6MA) with poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate)(POEGMA) as the macromolecular chain transfer agent, and POEGMA-b-[PDPA-co-PTPPC6MA] block copolymer was further self-assembled into spherical nanoparticles(PDPA-TPP). PDPA-TPP nanoparticles possess an effective electrostatic adherence to negatively charged bacterial cell membrane, since they could rapidly achieve positive charge in acidic bacterial media. Meanwhile, the acid-triggered dissociation of PDPA-TPP nanoparticles could reduce the aggregation caused quenching(ACQ) of the photosensitizers, leading to around 5 folds increase of the singlet oxygen(1O2) quantum yield. In vitro results demonstrated that the "acid-triggered" PDPA-TPP nanoparticles could kill most of MDR S. aureus(Gram-positive) and MDR E. coli(Gram-negative) by enhanced photodynamic therapy, and they could resist wound infection and accelerate wound healing effectively in vivo. Furthermore, PDPA-TPP nanoparticles could well disperse the biofilm and almost kill all the biofilm-containing bacteria. Thus, by making use of the bacterial acidic microenvironment, this "acid-triggered" nanoplatform in situ will open a new path to solve the aggregation of photosensitizers for combating broad-spectrum drug-resistant bacterial infection.     

Metal phthalocyanine as photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy (PDT)——Preparation,characterization and anticancer activities of an amphiphilic phthalocyanine ZnPcS_2P_2

A series of sulfonated (S) phthalimidomethyl (P) zinc phthalocyanines (Pc) was synthesized in a reaction, in which both kinds of substituents were introduced to ZnPc simultaneously. The products were separated by HPLC. The five different fractions obtained were further purified by a membrane separation method, and then characterized by UV/Vis, IR, element analysis and the abilities to generate singlet oxygen upon irradiation by light as well as a preliminary determination of in vitro antitumor activities. The results show that one of the five separating parts with formula of ZnPcS2P2 exhibited rather good PDT activity. The compound was further characterized by NMR, MS and thermal analysis. Studies on in vivo antitumor activities of ZnPcS2P2 as photosensi-tizer show that its inhibitory rate was up to 89.8% and 90.8% for S180 and U14 solid tumors transplanted in mice respectively when the dosage of drug was 2 mg/kg and the dosage of laser light with 670 nm wavelength was 72 J/cm2. Several structural factor     

Mineralization of 4-Chlorophenol under Visible Light Irradiation in the Presence of Aluminum and Zinc Phthalocyaninesulfonates

Photosensitized oxidation of 4-chlorophenol (4CP) by the title complexes (AIPcS and ZnPcS) in aerated aqueous solution uponvisible light irradiation(λ=450nm) has been investigated using methanol as a disassociating reagent.It is confirmed that the monomeric species of the sesitizer is more active than the corresponding dimer in singlet oxygen generation for 4CP oxidation.However,the monomer is also the main component found in the sensitlzer‘s photobleaching, In this reload, AIPcS is much more stable than ZnPcS, and the Dhotoble~hlno is observed to proceed via singlet and triplet oxygen, respectlvely.The final products of 4CP oxidation in alkaline solution are carbon dioxide and chloride ions.while at pH=7 and pH=3 the p-benzoquinone is the product.The temperature is found to have influence on both the photosensitized degradation of methyl orange and ZnPcS photobleaching,with an activation energy of 15.8 and 24.2kJ/mol,respectively.     

De novo design of highly efficient type-Ⅰ photosensitizer based on π-conjugated oligomer for photodynamic eradication of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections

Traditional photosensitizers show limited singlet oxygen generation in hypoxic infection lesions, which greatly suppress their performance in antibacterial therapy. Meanwhile, there still is lack of feasible design strategy for developing hypoxia-overcoming photosensitizers agents. Herein, radical generation of π-conjugated small molecules is efficiently manipulated by an individual selenium(Se) substituent. With this strategy, the first proof-of-concept study of a Se-anchored oligo(thienyl ethy...     

Photochemical hydrogen production with molecular devices comprising a zinc porphyrin and a cobaloxime catalyst

Two new noble-metal-free molecular devices,[{Co(dmgH) 2 Cl}{Zn(PyTPP)}](1,dmgH = dimethyloxime,PyTPP = 5-(4pyridyl)-10,15,20-triphenylporphyrin) and [{Co(dmgH) 2 Cl}{Zn(apPyTPP)}](2,apPyTPP = 5-[4-(isonicotinamidyl)phenyl]10,15,20-triphenylporphyrin),for light-driven hydrogen generation were prepared and spectroscopically characterized.The zinc porphyrin photosensitizer and the Co III-based catalyst unit are linked by axial coordination of a pyridyl group in the periphery of zinc-porphyrin to the cobalt centre of catalyst with different lengths of bridges.The apparent fluorescence quenching and lifetime decays of 1 and 2 were observed in comparison with their reference chromophores,Zn(PyTPP)(3) and Zn(apPyTPP)(4),suggesting a possibility for an intramolecular electron transfer from the singlet excited state of zinc porphyrin unit to the cobalt centre in the molecular devices.Photochemical H2-evolving studies show that complexes 1 and 2 are efficient molecular photocatalysts for visible light-driven H2 generation from water with triethylamine as a sacrificial electron donor in THF/H2 O,with turnover numbers up to 46 and 35 for 1 and 2,respectively.In contrast to these molecular devices,the multicomponent catalyst of zinc porphyrin and [Co(dmgH) 2 PyCl] did not show any fluorescence quenching and as a consequence,no H2 gas was detected by GC analysis in the presence of triethylamine with irradiation of visible light.The plausible mechanism for the photochemical H2 generation with these molecular devices is discussed.     

Discussion of the protein characterization techniques used in the identification of membrane protein targets corresponding to tumor cell aptamers

Aptamer is an oligonucleotide chain with specific binding ability to protein and other targets,which is widely used in ma ny fields.Because of its ability to screen the premise of unknown targets,it can be used to discover some novel tumor markers,i.e.,membrane proteins that are specifically highly expressed on the surface of tumor cells.Tumor markers can be used in many fields such as early diagnosis and treatment,and a new type of tumor marker proved to be effective can significantly improve the therapeutic effect of such tumors.However,further characterization of newly acquired membrane proteins is essential for their clinical use as tumor markers.This review first briefly introduced the process of obtaining novel tumor markers from nucleic acid aptamers.Next,the commonly used protein characterization methods could be used as a technical means to identify membrane protein targets corresponding to tumor cell aptamers,to clarify the principles,advantages and disadvantages of various means,and to analyze the most suitable situations for various experimental methods.Finally,the outlook was made and the characterization methods that should be used in such experiments were summarized.     

A pH-responsive activatable aptamer probe for targeted cancer imaging based on i-motif-driven conformation alteration

We present here a p H-responsive activatable aptamer probe for targeted cancer imaging based on i-motif-driven conformation alteration. This p H-responsive activatable aptamer probe is composed of two single-stranded DNA. One was used for target recognition, containing a central, target specific aptamer sequence at the 3′-end and an extension sequence at the 5′-end with 5-carboxytetramethylrhodamine(TAMRA) label(denoted as strand A). The other(strand I), being competent to work on the formation of i-motif structure, contained four stretches of the cytosine(C) rich domain and was labeled with a Black Hole Quencher 2(BHQ2) at the 3′-end. At neutral or slightly alkaline p H, strand I was hybridized to the extension sequence of strand A to form a double-stranded DNA probe, termed i-motif-based activatable aptamer probe(I-AAP). Because of proximityinduced energy transfer, the I-AAP was in a "signal off" state. The slightly acidic p H enforced the strand I to form an intramolecular i-motif and then initiated the dehybridization of I-AAP, leading to fluorescence readout in the target recognition. As a demonstration, AS1411 aptamer was used for MCF-7 cells imaging. It was displayed that the I-AAP could be carried out for target cancer cells imaging after being activated in slightly acidic environment. The applicability of I-AAP for tumor tissues imaging has been also investigated by using the isolated MCF-7 tumor tissues. These results implied the I-AAP strategy is promising as a novel approach for cancer imaging.     

16-脱氢孕烯醇酮醋酸酯的环境友好合成法

Instead of environmentally toxic chromium oxidant, singlet oxygen generated photcchemically was used as environmentally friendly and benign oxidizing agent to accomplish the transformation of pseudodiosgenin diacetate to diosone efficiently in a low toxic and less expensive solvent acetone. Accordingly 16-dehydropregnenolone acetate(16-DPA), an important intermediate for preparation of steroidal drugs, was prepared in good yield (75%) when photoreaction was run in acetone/acetic anhydride/pyridine system. The mild reaction condition as well as simple and environmentally friendly process made the method commercially viable and important for production of 16-DPA in industrial scale.     

ROS-responsive cyclodextrin nanoplatform for combined photodynamic therapy and chemotherapy of cancer

Cyclodextrin(CD) has special spatial structure and well biological safety,so it has been widely used for constructing CD-based na noplatforms.Through functionalization,cyclodextrin can form various stimulusresponse nanoplatforms,such as pH,temperature,redox,light and magnetic fields.In this study,we designed a highly sensitive reactive oxygen species(ROS)-responsive polymer PCP which encapsulated doxorubicin(DOX) and purpurin 18(P18) to achieve the syne rgy of photodynamic and chemotherapy.The high content of reactive oxygen species(ROS) in the tumor microenvironment(TME) triggers the cleavage of the borate bond of MPEG-CD-PHB(PCP),thereby promoting the re lease of drugs.When irradiated with nea rinfrared laser,the photosensitizer P18 released by polymer micelles can produce reactive oxygen species to promote cell apoptosis.Compared with monotherapy,a series of experiments confirmed that our micelles had enhanced anti-cancer activity.This work was beneficial to the design of ROS-responsive materials and provides an effective strategy for the application of collaborative anti-tumor therapy.     

氧化锌纳米点阵列体系的制备及发光性能

A novel nano-masking technique based on porous alumina membrane as mask was developed for preparing ZnO nanodots on Si substrate. The as-deposited nanodots with uniform size were in two-dimensional, regular array, whose regular structure and diameter were closely related to the mask used. Photoluminescence results show that the ZnO nanodot array have a strong UV light emission peak around 380 nm and a wide blue-green light emission peak at 460～610 nm at room temperature. The former corresponds to the near band edge emission of the wide band-gap ZnO and the latter could be attributed to the recombination of a photogenerated hole with singly ionized oxygen vacancy.     

Fluorescence Emission from Small Molecules Containing Amino Group

After the treatment of oxygen gas, the small molecules containing amine group could emit fluorescence. Oxidation was believed to play an important role in the formation of fluorescence centers. Compared to previous results, both small molecules and macromolecules might have the same fluorescence centers.