Recent Progress on Phototherapy

Switchable phototheranostic nanomaterials are of particular interest for specific biosensing, high-quality imaging, and targeted therapy in the field of precision nanomedicine. Here, we develop a “one-for-all” nanomaterial (NanoPcTBs) that self-assembles from flexible and versatile phthalocyanine building blocks. Fluorescence and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation could be triggered depending on a targeted, protein-induced, partial disassembly mechanism, which creates opportunities for low-background fluorescence imaging and activatable photodynamic therapy (PDT). On the other hand, the <i>in vivo</i> specific binding between albumin and PcS, arising from the disassembly of injected NanoPcS, was recently confirmed using an inducible transgenic mouse system. In a recent investigation, we devised a novel molecular design approach to create heavy-atom-free photosensitizers for thionapthalimides and BODIPYs. The thionaphthalimides display dramatically enhanced quantum yields for photosensitized singlet oxygen formation. <br/>Photodynamic antibacterial therapy is also regarded as an innovative and promising antibacterial approach due to its minor side effects and lack of drug resistance. Recently, we suggested that reactive differences may pave a general way to design selective photodynamic agents for ablating Gram-positive bacteria-infected diseases.