Triarylboron‐Doped Acenethiophenes as Organic Sonosensitizers for Highly Efficient Sonodynamic Therapy with Low Phototoxicity

Abstract

the most promising strategies in cancer treatment due to their therapeutic advantages such as high tumor specificity, elevated therapeutic efficacy, and mitigated side effects. [1][2][3][4] Currently, versatile therapeutic methods have been exploited in the treatment for various types of cancers, including photodynamic therapy (PDT), [5] photothermal therapy (PTT), [6] microwave therapy, [7] and radiofrequency therapy. [8] Sonodynamic therapy (SDT), as an emerging non-invasive cancer therapeutic strategy, has also attracted much attention in recent years, which utilizes low-intensity ultrasound (US) to activate sonosensitizers to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) and sono-cavitation for inducing cancer-cell death. [9][10][11] Unlike light as the energy source for PDT, which is limited by the penetration depth, US can penetrate much deeper tumors with minimal damage to surrounding normal tissues that can be applied to deep-seated tumors. [9,[12][13][14] The SDT effects are mainly based on the phenomenon of acoustic cavitation, involving the nucleation, growth, and explosion of bubbles under US irradiation, which leads to the activation of the sonosensitizer and generates ROS to trigger tumor cell death. At present, two accepted mechanisms (pyrolysis and sonoluminescence) have been proposed to explain ROS generation. One possibility, referred to as "pyrolysis" is that during inertial cavitation, the elevated temperature and pressure could produce hydroxyl radicals via water pyrolysis, which would further react with other substrates to generate ROS. The second possible mechanism is "sonoluminescence", which can produce light during the US irradiation and then excite the sonosensitizers to generate ROS in a manner similar to the process operating in PDT. Although the exact mechanism behind ROS production during the US irradiation is not entirely clear due to the complexity of the SDT process, it is evident that US interaction with sonosensitizers plays an indispensable role. The currently available sonosensitizers are classified into organic and inorganic sonosensitizers. Inorganic sonosensitizers such as TiO 2 nanoparticles have been reported to be effective for SDT, but biosafety and biodegradation issues are still fairly intractable for in vivo applications. [15][16][17] Compared with inorganic sonosensitizers, organic sonosensitizers are considered The development of efficient organic sonosensitizers is crucial for sonodynamic therapy (SDT) in the field of cancer treatment. Herein, a new strategy for the development of efficient organic sonosensitizers based on triarylboron-doped acenethiophene scaffolds is presented. The attachment of boron to the linear acenethiophenes lowers the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy, resulting in redshifted absorptions and emissions. After encapsulation with the amphiphilic polymer DSPE-mPEG 2000 , it is found that the nanostructured BAnTh-NPs and BTeTh-NPs (nanoparticles of BAnTh and BTeTh) shows efficient hydroxyl radical ( • OH) generation under ultrasound ...

High‐Resolution Imaging of Latent Fingerprints through Near‐Infrared Organoboron AIEgens†

“…In addition, owing to the vacant orbital structure of boron, organoboron compounds have unique and efficient luminescence properties, which have been widely used in thermally activated delayed fluorescence materials, [ 22 ] photoisomerization [ 23‐24 ] and bioimaging. [ 25 ] The introduction of boron into AIE system will enhance the quantum yield of AIEgens. [ 27 ] Therefore, the development of organoboron AIEgens has attracted great research attention [ 28 ]…”

Sonocatalytic cancer therapy: theories, advanced catalysts and system design

“…3d). 45 The electron-deficient nature of the tris(aryl)boron groups in BTeTh led to decreased LUMO energy and narrowed band gaps. As a sonosensitizer, BTeTh-NPs displayed efficient ˙OH generation under ultrasonic irradiation, as well as low cytotoxicity, avoiding potential skin phototoxicity issues during cancer treatment.…”

Engineering Molybdenum‐Assisted Tellurium Nanosonosensitizers for Enhanced Sonodynamic Tumor Nanotherapy

“…[8][9][10] Previous exploration on engineering sonosensitizers concentrated on organic sonosensitizers, such as porphyrin and chlorophyll derivatives, and representative titanium dioxide-based inorganic sonosensitizers. [11][12][13] However, organic sonosensitizers have notable defects, including tedious preparation, undesirable hydrophobicity, and low bioavailability. [14,15] In addition, titanium dioxide-based sonosensitizers exhibit nondegradability and unsatisfactory therapeutic efficacy owing to the rapid electron−hole recombination.…”