A NIR heptamethine dye with intrinsic cancer targeting, imaging and photosensitizing properties.

The future personalized oncology significantly relies on the development of multifunctional agents to integrate tumor targeting, imaging, and cytotoxic activities. In our recent study, we have recently identified a near infrared fluorescent heptamethine dye, IR-780, with unexpected preferential accumulation in a broad spectra of tumor cells for in vivo tumor targeting and imaging. On the basis of this foregoing work, in this study, we describe here the chemical synthesis and biological characterization of an analog of IR-780, termed as IR-808, which not only possesses similar tumor targeting and imaging properties of IR-780, but also has unique photodependent cytotoxic activity. In addition, IR-808 also exhibits favorable optical and pharmacokinetic properties, as well as good biocompatibility. This dye may hold promise as a candidate multifunctional theranostic agent for future tumor targeted imaging and photodynamic therapy.