Photo-controllable biochemistry: Exploiting the photocages in phototherapeutic window

Bioorthogonally Assisted Phototherapy: Recent Advances and Prospects

“…Photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT) combines some of the beneficial effects of external radiation therapy and internal chemotherapy of cytotoxic drugs. Masking the activity of chemotherapeutic drugs with photolabile protecting groups (PPGs) is a promising solution for oxygen‐independent phototherapy [5, 11, 28] . Light‐induced removal of these photolabile moieties from the prodrugs by light irradiation leads to liberation of the cargo thus the activity of the caged substrate restores [12, 29] .…”

“…Masking the activity of chemotherapeutic drugs with photolabile protecting groups (PPGs) is a promising solution for oxygenindependent phototherapy. [5,11,28] Light-induced removal of these photolabile moieties from the prodrugs by light irradiation leads to liberation of the cargo thus the activity of the caged substrate restores. [12,29] Clinical translation of PACT, however, is still hindered by the lack of suitably hydrophilic PPGs activatable in the biologically benign red or near-infrared (NIR) range, although considerable advan- ces have been made recently, for example by the development of two-photon photocages.…”

Bioorthogonally Assisted Phototherapy: Recent Advances and Prospects

“…[12,29] Clinical translation of PACT, however, is still hindered by the lack of suitably hydrophilic PPGs activatable in the biologically benign red or near-infrared (NIR) range, although considerable advan- ces have been made recently, for example by the development of two-photon photocages. [11,30,31]…”

“…In certain instances, however, the role of the bioorthogonal reaction goes way beyond this and has an added feature of activating the photoresponsivity upon ligation allowing to gain even higher spatiotemporal control over light-triggered processes. Since very thorough, excellent summaries on the particular phototherapeutic approaches [9][10][11][12] as well as on bioorthogonal tools [13][14][15] were published recently, we discuss these just briefly and focus on examples where photoresponsivity is modulated in the bioorthogonal step.…”

Mitochondria-Targeted COUPY Photocages: Synthesis and Visible-Light Photoactivation in Living Cells

“…This noninvasive external stimulus can be delivered to living organisms with a high spatiotemporal resolution, allowing the manipulation of cellular processes by phototriggering the release of bioactive molecules from photocaged inactive precursors without using potentially toxic chemical reagents . Moreover, light of long wavelengths (e.g., far-red and near-infrared (NIR)) is non-phototoxic and offers higher tissue penetration than UV or blue light (300–400 nm), which facilitates in vivo applications and clinical translation . Among visible-light-sensitive PPGs based on organic chromophores, o -nitrobenzyl, quinone, coumarin, naphthalene, BODIPY, xanthenium, cyanine, and porphyrin derivatives have been widely used in chemical, biological, and materials science applications.…”