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Mild-temperature photothermal therapy (PTT) is being extensively explored because it causes less injury to normal cells. However, the effect of mild-temperature PTT is decreased because of heat shock protein (HSP) overexpression. To solve this problem, we designed functional conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPNs-G) that enhance the mild-temperature photothermal effect. Upon near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation, CPNs-G generate local heat to realize the photothermal effect. Meanwhile, the increased temperature enhances the catalytic activity of GOx, thus impeding the generation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and inhibiting HSP expression. Therefore, this work provides a strategy for overcoming thermoresistance through an enzyme-mediated starvation effect regulated by NIR light.

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Herein, we have developed a composite antibacterial hydrogel with photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) antibacterial capabilities, triggered by white light and NIR light irradiation. A water-insoluble conjugated polymer (PDPP) with photothermal ability was prepared into nanoparticles by the nanoprecipitation method, and the cell-penetrating peptide TAT was grafted on the surface of the nanoparticles. Based on our previous work that developed a hybrid hydrogel with an enhanced PDT effect from polyisocyanide (PIC) hydrogel and cationic conjugated polythiophene (PMNT), PDPP nanoparticles (CPNs-TAT) with photothermal ability are introduced to realize the synergistic antibacterial effect of PDT and PTT. Using the PIC hydrogel to combine PIC and CPNs-TAT has the following advantages. First, the PIC hydrogel can regulate the aggregation state of PMNT, making it better dispersed and improving its capacity of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Second, CPNs-TAT can be uniformly dispersed in the PIC hybrid, thereby avoiding the toxicity caused by too high local concentration, achieving a uniform increase in system temperature, and enhancing the therapeutic effect of PTT. Third, the PIC hybrid has the synergistic treatment effect of PDT and PTT. The PIC hybrid intelligently regulates its antibacterial ability through white light and NIR light, which can be used in the white light and NIR light areas. When irradiated with white light and NIR light sequentially, synergistic PDT and PTT exhibit stronger antibacterial ability than PDT or PTT alone. The combination of two antibacterial methods realizes the dual-control antibacterial hydrogel of PDT and PTT and provides an antibacterial mode based on PIC hybrids. Therefore, the PIC hybrids are promising as an antibacterial excipient for clinical wounds.

By coating photosynthetic bacteria of Rhodopseudomonas palustris with conjugated polymers nanoparticles modified with positively charged peptide TAT (CPNs-TAT), a bio-optical hybrid composite of R....

Calmodulin (CaM), as a calcium binding protein involved in the signal pathways of many life activities such as cell proliferation and apoptosis, can be regulated with the near-infrared (NIR) light-based photothermal conversion. Here, we build a conjugated polymer nanoparticle (CPNs-C) by assembling polypyrrole dione and dipalmitoyl phosphatidylethanolamine-polyethylene glycol-maleimide with a calmodulin antibody modified on the surface, which is NIR light-responsive for photothermally inducing apoptosis of cancer cells. Under near-infrared light irradiation, protein kinase B (Akt) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, which bind to CaM, reduce the degree of phosphorylation due to the photothermal effect of CPNs-C, thus inhibiting the recruitment of Akt on the cell membrane. Therefore, the phosphorylation of GSK-3β downstream of the signaling pathway is reduced, and the phosphorylation of FoxO3a is enhanced, which can promote apoptosis of cancer cells. Compared with the photothermal effect of traditional CPNs, CPNs-C exhibits higher efficiency to regulate signaling pathways to promote cancer cells toward apoptosis. This strategy of utilizing NIR light to regulate the tumor apoptotic signaling pathway provides an effective way to enhance cancer cell apoptosis with high efficiency.

Cells are normally cultured in 2D environment, which is usually inconsistent with the real microenvironment in vivo, and it is rarely reported that an effective cancer cell killing process occurs in a 3D network environment. Herein, a kind of new biomimetic composite hydrogel which can achieve 3D cell culture has been prepared and constructed by assembly of polyisocyanopeptide (PIC) with cationic oligo (p-phenylene vinylene) (OPV). The polymer chains of PIC can be bound and frizzled to form a 3D network when the temperature rises above the gelation temperature, followed by encapsulating the cells into biomimetic composite hydrogel. Cells grow and proliferate well in 3D composite hydrogels with excellent cell viability. When the cells undergo cancerization or microbial infection during the 3D culture, the addition of the luminol luminescence system can cause a strong bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) process to produce highly active reactive oxygen species (ROS) in 3D culture and kill the ca...

The synthetic control over pore structure and multifunctionality remain highly desirable for conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs). Here, we demonstrate that the 1,10-phenanthroline-like S,N-heter...