Hydrogen peroxide-responsive AIE probe for imaging-guided organelle targeting and photodynamic cancer cell ablation

Abstract

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), a key reactive oxygen species (ROS), is mainly produced endogenously in the mitochondria. The selective monitoring of H₂O₂ in living cells is of great significance for understanding the diagnosis and pathogenesis of cancers, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes. Here, we constructed a versatile AIE probe, TTPy-H₂O₂, which exhibited excellent performance in the specific visualization of H₂O₂ in various living cells with mitochondria targeting, excellent biocompatibility, photostability, and remarkable ROS generation ability. Red/near-infrared fluorescence first located in the mitochondria could light up lipid droplets with bright yellow fluorescence after responding to H₂O₂, which can realize both imaging and photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer therapy.