Issue 26, 2018

Spiropyran in nanoassemblies as a photosensitizer for photoswitchable ROS generation in living cells

Abstract

Reversibly controlled generation of singlet oxygen from photosensitizing nanosystems has the benefits of selective cell killing and controllable effect time, but is a challenging option for photodynamic therapies. We report a strategy for integrating photochromic spiropyrans into biocompatible cationic polymers, which involved assembling nucleic acids into functional nanoparticles without introducing additional photosensitizers and imaging agents. We found that spiropyran-containing nanoparticles have photoswitching properties for both fluorescence (with a quantum yield of up to 0.27) and singlet oxygen generation (with a quantum yield of up to 0.22) in aqueous solutions and cells, and demonstrated that spiropyrans in nanoassemblies featuring aggregation-induced enhanced photosensitization and emission could be potentially applied in photodynamic therapy studies on tumor cells.

Graphical abstract: Spiropyran in nanoassemblies as a photosensitizer for photoswitchable ROS generation in living cells

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
12 3 2018
Accepted
11 6 2018
First published
11 6 2018
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2018,9, 5816-5821

Spiropyran in nanoassemblies as a photosensitizer for photoswitchable ROS generation in living cells

J. Ji, X. Li, T. Wu and F. Feng, Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 5816 DOI: 10.1039/C8SC01148F

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