Sha Qingyang, Li Xinsheng, Gu Xixin, Yuan Tao, Hua Jianli
Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Joint International Research Laboratory for Precision Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Feringa Nobel Prize Scientist Joint Research Center, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, PR China.
Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, Joint International Research Laboratory for Precision Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Feringa Nobel Prize Scientist Joint Research Center, Frontiers Science Center for Materiobiology and Dynamic Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130 Meilong Road, Shanghai, 200237, PR China.
Talanta. 2025 May 1;286:127570. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2025.127570. Epub 2025 Jan 10.
Hypochlorous acid (HClO/ClO) is a common ROS that exhibits elevated activity levels in cancer cells. In this study, an ClO-triggered TADF probe, PTZ-MNI, was designed based on a naphthalimide core. PTZ-MNI self-assemble in aqueous environments, exhibiting significantly enhanced fluorescence that demonstrated typical aggregation-induced delayed fluorescence (AIDF) characteristics. The probe not only showed high sensitivity to ClO but also exhibited remarkable selectivity over other reactive oxygen species and disturbance. PTZ-MNI displayed TADF characteristic, including sensitivity to oxygen in toluene, insensitivity to oxygen in aggregated states that maintain long fluorescence lifetimes, a vertical conformation, and a minimal ΔE of 0.01 eV. Cell imaging studies showed the probe could trace ClO by red to green fluorescence in HeLa cell. The colocalization analysis indicated its excellent lysosome-targeting specificity. In addition, PTZ-MNI-O, the compound after oxidation, exhibited effective ROS generation ability and significant PDT effect after irradiation. This work provides guidance for the rational design of responsive TADF luminescent materials used in cell imaging and activatable-PDT.
次氯酸（HClO/ClO）是一种常见的活性氧，在癌细胞中表现出较高的活性水平。在本研究中，基于萘酰亚胺核设计了一种ClO触发的热活化延迟荧光（TADF）探针PTZ-MNI。PTZ-MNI在水性环境中自组装，表现出显著增强的荧光，呈现出典型的聚集诱导延迟荧光（AIDF）特性。该探针不仅对ClO表现出高灵敏度，而且对其他活性氧和干扰物具有显著的选择性。PTZ-MNI表现出TADF特性，包括在甲苯中对氧气敏感、在聚集态对氧气不敏感且保持长荧光寿命、垂直构象以及最小ΔE为0.01 eV。细胞成像研究表明，该探针可在HeLa细胞中通过红到绿荧光追踪ClO。共定位分析表明其具有优异的溶酶体靶向特异性。此外，氧化后的化合物PTZ-MNI-O在辐照后表现出有效的活性氧生成能力和显著的光动力治疗（PDT）效果。这项工作为用于细胞成像和可激活PDT的响应性TADF发光材料的合理设计提供了指导。
