School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 637457, Singapore.
Adv Mater. 2019 Aug;31(33):e1901607. doi: 10.1002/adma.201901607. Epub 2019 Jun 14.
Photoregulation, which utilizes light to remotely control biological events, provides a precise way to decipher biology and innovate in medicine; however, its potential is limited by the shallow tissue penetration and/or phototoxicity of ultraviolet (UV)/visible light that are required to match the optical responses of endogenous photosensitive substances. Thereby, biologically friendly near-infrared (NIR) light with improved tissue penetration is desired for photoregulation. Since there are a few endogenous biomolecules absorbing or emitting light in the NIR region, the development of molecular transducers is essential to convert NIR light into the cues for regulation of biological events. In this regard, optical nanomaterials able to convert NIR light into UV/visible light, heat, or free radicals are suitable for this task. Here, the recent developments of optical nanotransducers for NIR-light-mediated photoregulation in medicine are summarized. The emerging applications, including photoregulation of neural activity, gene expression, and visual systems, as well as photochemical tissue bonding, are highlighted, along with the design principles of nanotransducers. Moreover, the current challenges and perspectives in this field are discussed.
光调控利用光来远程控制生物事件,为解析生物学和医学创新提供了一种精确的方法;然而,其潜力受到限制,因为需要匹配内源性光敏物质的光学响应,紫外线 (UV)/可见光的穿透深度较浅和/或具有光毒性。因此,人们希望使用具有改进组织穿透能力的生物相容性近红外 (NIR) 光进行光调控。由于在近红外区域内只有少数内源性生物分子吸收或发射光,因此开发分子换能器对于将 NIR 光转换为调节生物事件的信号至关重要。在这方面,能够将 NIR 光转换为 UV/可见光、热或自由基的光学纳米材料非常适合这项任务。本文总结了用于医学中 NIR 光介导的光调控的光学纳米换能器的最新进展。突出了新兴应用,包括神经活动、基因表达和视觉系统的光调控,以及光化学组织结合,以及纳米换能器的设计原则。此外,还讨论了该领域当前的挑战和展望。