Britton Chance Center and MoE Key Laboratory for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Hainan Province, School of Biomedical Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.
Biosensors (Basel). 2023 Feb 27;13(3):324. doi: 10.3390/bios13030324.
A photosensitizer furnishing with reversible control singlet oxygen generation (O) is highly desirable for precise photodynamic therapy (PDT), lessening non-specific harm to healthy tissues. Here, a novel photoswitchable aggregation-induced emission (AIE) photosensitizer based on a triarylamine (TPA)-modified hemithioindigo (HTI), 6Br-HTI-TPA-OMe, was rationally designed. The triarylamine AIE photosensitizing moiety and HTI switch unit were covalently linked in one molecule, permitting reversible regulation of O production. The photophysical evaluations revealed that 6Br-HTI-TPA-OMe possessed excellent AIE properties and Z/E photoswitch performance in different solvents. Additionally, the amphiphilic phospholipid-fabricated nanoparticles (NPs) also exhibited photochromic behavior in water. The Z-NPs initiated the generation of O upon 520 nm light-emitting diode (LED) irradiation, but after switching to E-NPs, the generation of O was inhibited by the competitive energy transfer, suggesting that reversible Z/E isomerization could photocontrol O generation. The in vitro anti-tumor experiment verified that the 6Br-HTI-TPA-OMe can act as a photoswitchable AIE photosensitizer. This is the first report on the photoswitchable AIE photosensitizer of HTI-based molecules, to the best of our knowledge.
一种具有可逆控制单线态氧生成（O）的光敏剂对于精确的光动力疗法（PDT）非常理想，可以减少对健康组织的非特异性伤害。在这里，设计了一种基于三芳基胺（TPA）修饰的半硫靛（HTI）的新型光开关聚集诱导发射（AIE）光敏剂，6Br-HTI-TPA-OMe。三芳基胺 AIE 敏化部分和 HTI 开关单元在一个分子中被共价连接，允许 O 产生的可逆调节。光物理评估表明，6Br-HTI-TPA-OMe 在不同溶剂中具有优异的 AIE 性质和 Z/E 光致变色性能。此外，两亲性磷脂制备的纳米粒子（NPs）在水中也表现出光致变色行为。Z-NPs 在 520nm 发光二极管（LED）照射下引发 O 的生成，但在切换到 E-NPs 后，O 的生成被竞争能量转移抑制，表明可逆 Z/E 异构化可以光控 O 的生成。体外抗肿瘤实验验证了 6Br-HTI-TPA-OMe 可以作为一种光开关 AIE 光敏剂。据我们所知，这是第一个关于基于 HTI 的分子的光开关 AIE 光敏剂的报告。
