A supramolecular photosensitizer derived from an Arene-Ru(II) complex self-assembly for NIR activated photodynamic and photothermal therapy.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35654794.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-30721-w and PMC identifier 9163081.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Effective photosensitizers are of particular importance for the widespread clinical utilization of phototherapy. However, conventional photosensitizers are usually plagued by short-wavelength absorption, inadequate photostability, low reactive oxygen species (ROS) quantum yields, and aggregation-caused ROS quenching. Here, we report a near-infrared (NIR)-supramolecular photosensitizer (RuDA) via self-assembly of an organometallic Ru(II)-arene complex in aqueous solution. RuDA can generate singlet oxygen (<sup>1</sup>O<sub>2</sub>) only in aggregate state, showing distinct aggregation-induced <sup>1</sup>O<sub>2</sub> generation behavior due to the greatly increased singlet-triplet intersystem crossing process. Upon 808 nm laser irradiation, RuDA with excellent photostability displays efficient <sup>1</sup>O<sub>2</sub> and heat generation in a <sup>1</sup>O<sub>2</sub> quantum yield of 16.4% (FDA-approved indocyanine green: Φ<sub>Δ</sub> = 0.2%) together with high photothermal conversion efficiency of 24.2% (commercial gold nanorods: 21.0%, gold nanoshells: 13.0%). In addition, RuDA-NPs with good biocompatibility can be preferably accumulated at tumor sites, inducing significant tumor regression with a 95.2% tumor volume reduction in vivo during photodynamic therapy. This aggregation enhanced photodynamic therapy provides a strategy for the design of photosensitizers with promising photophysical and photochemical characteristics.
Medical subject headings
- Neoplasms
- Photosensitizing Agents