Aggregation-induced emission photosensitizer-based photodynamic therapy in cancer: from chemical to clinical

Abstract

Cancer remains a serious threat to human health owing to the lack of effective treatments. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has emerged as a promising non-invasive cancer treatment that consists of three main elements: photosensitizers (PSs), light and oxygen. However, some traditional PSs are prone to aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ), leading to reduced reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation capacity. Aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-PSs, due to their distorted structure, suppress the strong molecular interactions, making them more photosensitive in the aggregated state instead. Activated by light, they can efficiently produce ROS and induce cell death. PS is one of the core factors of efficient PDT, so proceeding from the design and preparation of AIE-PSs, including how to manipulate the electron donor (D) and receptor (A) in the PSs configuration, introduce heavy atoms or metal complexes, design of Type I AIE-PSs, polymerization-enhanced photosensitization and nano-engineering approaches. Then, the preclinical experiments of AIE-PSs in treating different types of tumors, such as ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, and its great potential clinical applications are discussed. In addition, some perspectives on the further development of AIE-PSs are presented. This review hopes to stimulate the interest of researchers in different fields such as chemistry, materials science, biology, and medicine, and promote the clinical translation of AIE-PSs. Graphical Abstract

A mitochondria-anchored supramolecular photosensitizer as a pyroptosis inducer for potent photodynamic therapy and enhanced antitumor immunity

“…Recently, photodynamic therapy (PDT) as a non-invasive clinical procedure has attracted considerable attention, which has remarkable merits of overcoming drug resistance and reducing the side effects in treatment [ 4 – 6 ]. It uses light of a specific wavelength and photosensitizers to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), particularly singlet oxygen ( 1 O 2 ), to destroy tumor tissues with highly temporal and spatial selectivity [ 7 – 9 ].…”

Short-Wavelength Aggregation-Induced Emission Photosensitizers for Solid Tumor Therapy: Enhanced with White-Light Fiber Optic

“…1,2 To inhibit the rapid growth of tumors, the advanced treatments such as chemotherapy, gene therapy, photothermal therapy, immune therapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT) have emerged, among which PDT is a medical treatment that uses photosensitizers in combination with a specific light source to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), thus exerting cytotoxic activity in tumor cells. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] To date, PDT has been established as a safe modality for ablating many types of tumors because of its noninvasive procedure, enhanced tumor selectivity and good cosmetic outcomes. [12][13][14][15] With a large amount of recent technological advances, PDT is capable of becoming mainstream of cancer treatment.…”

Enhancing Skin Cancer Immunotheranostics and Precision Medicine through Functionalized Nanomodulators and Nanosensors: Recent Development and Prospects

“…Currently, many photosensitizers are developed as nanoparticle formulations or as chemicals. The development of new photosensitizers, porphylipoprotein and talaporphyrin sodium, metal complex base, aggregation-induced emission, and doped carbon dot-based photosensitizers have received considerable attention in cancer treatment [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ]. The use of nanoparticle-based PDV has enhanced the rate of detection of nonmelanoma and melanoma skin cancers with promising therapeutic potential [ 43 , 44 ].…”