A supramolecular photosensitizer derived from an Arene-Ru(II) complex self-assembly for NIR activated photodynamic and photothermal therapy

作者：Gang Xu, Chengwei Li, Chen Chi, Luyan Wu, Yanyan Sun, Jian Zhao, Xing‐Hua Xia, Shao-Hua Gou · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-022-30721-w · 被引用次数：187 · 研究领域：Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics、Advanced Nanomaterials in Catalysis、Nanocluster Synthesis and Applications

Abstract Effective photosensitizers are of particular importance for the widespread clinical utilization of phototherapy. However, conventional photosensitizers are usually plagued by short-wavelength absorption, inadequate photostability, low reactive oxygen species (ROS) quantum yields, and aggregation-caused ROS quenching. Here, we report a near-infrared (NIR)-supramolecular photosensitizer (RuDA) via self-assembly of an organometallic Ru(II)-arene complex in aqueous solution. RuDA can generate singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ) only in aggregate state, showing distinct aggregation-induced 1 O 2 generation behavior due to the greatly increased singlet-triplet intersystem crossing process. Upon 808 nm laser irradiation, RuDA with excellent photostability displays efficient 1 O 2 and heat generation in a 1 O 2 quantum yield of 16.4% (FDA-approved indocyanine green: Φ Δ = 0.2%) together with high photothermal conversion efficiency of 24.2% (commercial gold nanorods: 21.0%, gold nanoshells: 13.0%). In addition, RuDA-NPs with good biocompatibility can be preferably accumulated at tumor sites, inducing significant tumor regression with a 95.2% tumor volume reduction in vivo during photodynamic therapy. This aggregation enhanced photodynamic therapy provides a strategy for the design of photosensitizers with promising photophysical and photochemical characteristics.