Search

Abnormal lysosomal viscosity is closely associated with cancer progression, underscoring the need for bifunctional fluorescent probes and photosensitizers (PSs) that can both monitor viscosity and facilitate imaging‐guided therapy for simultaneous cancer diagnosis and treatment. Despite advances in lysosome‐targeted PSs development, few have demonstrated the ability to generate both Type I and Type II reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, we present BTTPA, a lysosome‐targeted fluorescent probe and photosensitizer, designed to integrate cancer diagnosis via viscosity imaging and cancer treatment through photodynamic therapy (PDT). Our findings reveal that BTTPA selectively targets lysosomes, enabling dynamic monitoring of cellular viscosity and distinguishing cancer cells from normal cells. Upon light activation, BTTPA efficiently generates both Type I and Type II ROS. Apoptosis assays further confirm BTTPA's effectiveness in inducing cancer cell apoptosis, highlighting its potential as a powerful tool for cancer diagnosis and therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of photothermal and chemodynamic therapy (PTT/CDT) has promising anticancer effect. Nonetheless, the large-scale preparation of multifunctional nanotherapeutics with good water-solubility and biocompatibility using simple methods remains a major challenge. Herein, we prepared multifunctional nanoparticles (Fe–Ba NPs) by combining Fe3+ with baicalin via a simple coordination assisted self-assembly method, as the carbonyl and phenolic hydroxyl groups in baicalin have strong coordination interaction with Fe3+. The obtained NPs exhibit a broad absorption spectrum extending to near-infrared region and have an excellent photothermal conversion efficiency of 91.1 %. In addition, glutathione (GSH), which is highly expressed in tumor, can reduce Fe3+ in Fe–Ba NPs to Fe2+. On the one hand, Fe2+ can further react with H2O2 to generate hydroxy radical, resulting in CDT. Conversely, depletion of GSH in tumors can disrupt redox homeostasis and upregulate CDT-mediated oxidative damage, leading to enhanced CDT effect. By integrating PTT and CDT, Fe–Ba NPs can greatly improve the therapeutic efficacy. This research introduces a strategy for the design and synthesis of multifunctional nanotherapeutic reagents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a new zero‐dimensional carbon‐based material, carbon dots (CDs) have attracted extensive attention owing to their advantages such as easy preparation and surface modification, good biocompatibility and water solubility, and tunable photochemical properties. CDs have become one of the most promising nanomaterials in the field of fluorescent sensing, bioimaging, and cancer therapy. How to precisely regulate the photochemical properties, especially the absorption, fluorescence, phosphorescence, reactive oxygen species generation, and photothermal conversion of the CDs, is the key to developing highly efficient phototheranostics for cancer treatment. Although many studies on cancer therapy using CDs have been published, no review has focused on the regulation of photochemical properties of CDs for phototheranostic applications. In this review, we summarized the strategies such as the selection of suitable carbon source, heteroatomic doping, optimum reaction conditions, surface modification, and assembly strategy to efficiently regulate the photochemical properties of the CDs to meet the requirements of different practical applications. This review might provide some valuable insight and new ideas for the development of CDs with excellent phototheranostic performance. This article is categorized under:Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging TechnologiesNanotechnology Approaches to Biology > Nanoscale Systems in BiologyDiagnostic Tools > In Vivo Nanodiagnostics and Imaging [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]