Theranostics based on AIEgens

Emerging potential approaches in alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activatable cancer theranostics

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is known as one of the most crucial members of the phosphatase family and encompasses the enormous ability to hydrolyze the phosphate group in various biomolecules; by this, it regulates several events in the pool of biological medium. Owing to its overexpression in various cancer cells, recently, its potential has evolved as a prominent biomarker in cancer research. In this article, we have underlined the recent advances (2019 onwards) of alkaline phosphatase in the arena of emerging cancer theranostics. Herein, we mainly focused on phosphate-locked molecular systems such as peptides, prodrugs, and aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-based molecules. When these theranostics encounter cancer cell-overexpressed ALP, it results in the hydrolysis of the phosphate group, which leads to the release of highly cytotoxic agents along with turn-on fluorophore/pre-existing fluorophore.

Differential detection of H1N1 virus spiker proteins by two hexaphenylbutadiene isomers based on size-matching principle

As one of the high pathogenic influenza viruses, H1N1 virus easily induces to serious diseases, even leading to death. To date, all detection methods for H1N1 virus had shortcomings, including high equipment cost, time consumption, and etc. Therefore, a novel detection method should be established to achieve more convenient, rapid, and low-cost detection. In this work, an isomer of HPBmN-I with aggregation-induced emission characteristic was firstly synthesized on the basis of our previous reported HPBpN-I. The results showed that HPBmN-I only selectively binds to N1 in the presence of H1, while HPBpN-I can exhibit total fluorescence response to H1 and N1 in H1/N1 mixture. The limited of detection (LOD) of HPBmN-I to N1 was estimated to be 20.82 ng/mL in normal saline (NS) according to the IUPAC-based approach. The simulation calculations based on molecular docking revealed that four HPBmN-I molecules combine well with the hydrophobic cavity of N1 and achieve the fluorescence enhancement due to size matching with each other. The combination of HPBpN-I and HPBmN-I as probes was successfully used to quantitatively detect H1 and N1 in real H1N1 virus. Compared to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method, the established method not only showed the same detection accuracy but also had the advantages of real-time, ease of preparation, and low-cost, demonstrating potential market prospects.

Multifunctional agents based on 3-dicycanovinylindan-1-one acceptor: Molecular design and phototheranostic application

Phototherapy, including photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT), has garnered considerable attention in recent years, owing to its precise spatiotemporal accuracy with minimal side effects. Recent research reveals that the combination of PDT and PTT exhibits a remarkable anti-tumor efficacy compared to PDT or PTT alone, which has put forward the new requirements of multifunctional phototherapy agents with both high photosensitization and photothermal conversion efficiencies. Among the newly developed multifunctional agents, the ones with one or two 3-dicycanovinylindan-1-one (IC) moieties as the acceptors attract much more attention, due to their long-wavelength excitation and emission, as well as high phototherapy efficacies. Therefore, in this review, the latest advancement of multifunctional agents based on IC acceptor is summarized. Especially, we focus on the structure-property relationships of the agents, as well as their biomedical application in anti-tumor therapy or image-guided therapy. Our perspective on the further future development of this field is also discussed to conclude.

Thiophene Stability in Photodynamic Therapy: A Mathematical Model Approach

Thiophene-containing photosensitizers are gaining recognition for their role in photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, the inherent reactivity of the thiophene moiety toward singlet oxygen threatens the stability and efficiency of these photosensitizers. This study presents a novel mathematical model capable of predicting the reactivity of thiophene toward singlet oxygen in PDT, using Conceptual Density Functional Theory (CDFT) and genetic programming. The research combines advanced computational methods, including various DFT techniques and symbolic regression, and is validated with experimental data. The findings underscore the capacity of the model to classify photosensitizers based on their photodynamic efficiency and safety, particularly noting that photosensitizers with a constant rate 1000 times lower than that of unmodified thiophene retain their photodynamic performance without substantial singlet oxygen quenching. Additionally, the research offers insights into the impact of electronic effects on thiophene reactivity. Finally, this study significantly advances thiophene-based photosensitizer design, paving the way for therapeutic agents that achieve a desirable balance between efficiency and safety in PDT.

Thiophene π-bridge-based second near-infrared luminogens with aggregation-induced emission for biomedical applications

In the past 5 years, aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) with emission in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) optical window have aroused great interest in bioimaging and disease phototheranostics, benefiting from the merits of deep penetration depth, reduced light scatting, high spatial resolution, and minimal photodamage. To construct NIR-II AIEgens, thiophene derivatives are frequently adopted as π-bridge by virtue of their electron-rich feature and good modifiability. Herein, we summarize the recent progress of NIR-II AIEgens by employing thiophene derivatives as π-bridge mainly compassing unsubstituted thiophene, alkyl thiophene, 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene, and benzo[c]thiophene, with a discussion on their structure-property relationships and biomedical applications. Finally, a brief conclusion and perspective on this fascinating area are offered.

Reviewing the evolutive ACQ-to-AIE transformation of photosensitizers for phototheranostics

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) represents an emerging noninvasive treatment technique for cancers and various nonmalignant diseases, including infections. During the process of PDT, the physical and chemical properties of photosensitizers (PSs) critically determine the effectiveness of PDT. Traditional PSs have made great progress in clinical applications. One of the challenges is that traditional PSs suffer from aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) due to their discotic structures. Recently, aggregation-induced emission PSs (AIE-PSs) with a twisted propeller-shaped conformation have been widely concerned because of high reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation efficiency, strong fluorescence efficiency, and resistance to photobleaching. However, AIE-PSs also have some disadvantages, such as short absorption wavelengths and insufficient molar absorption coefficient. When the advantages and disadvantages of AIE-PSs and ACQ-PSs are complementary, combining ACQ-PSs and AIE-PSs is a "win-to-win" strategy. As far as we know, the conversion of traditional representative ACQ-PSs to AIE-PSs for phototheranostics has not been reviewed. In the review, we summarize the recent progress on the ACQ-to-AIE transformation of PSs and the strategies to achieve desirable theranostic applications. The review would be helpful to design more efficient ACQ-AIE-PSs in the future and to accelerate the development and clinical application of PDT.

Multi-Stimuli-Responsive and Cell Membrane Camouflaged Aggregation-Induced Emission Nanogels for Precise Chemo-photothermal Synergistic Therapy of Tumors

Targeted and controllable drug release at lesion sites with the aid of visual navigation in real-time is of great significance for precise theranostics of cancers. Benefiting from the marvelous features (e.g., bright emission and phototheranostic effects in aggregates) of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) materials, constructing AIE-based multifunctional nanocarriers that act as all-arounders to integrate multimodalities for precise theranostics is highly desirable. Here, an intelligent nanoplatform (P-TN-Dox@CM) with homologous targeting, controllable drug release, and in vivo dual-modal imaging for precise chemo-photothermal synergistic therapy is proposed. AIE photothermic agent (TN) and anticancer drug (Dox) are encapsulated in thermo-/pH-responsive nanogels (PNA), and the tumor cell membranes are camouflaged onto the surface of nanogels. Active targeting can be realized through homologous effects derived from source tumor cell membranes, which advantageously elevates the specific drug delivery to tumor sites. After being engulfed into tumor cells, the nanogels exhibit a burst drug release at low pH. The near-infrared (NIR) photoinduced local hyperthermia can activate severe cytotoxicity and further accelerate drug release, thus generating enhanced synergistic chemo-photothermal therapy to thoroughly eradicate tumors. Moreover, P-TN-Dox@CM nanogels could achieve NIR-fluorescence/photothermal dual-modal imaging to monitor the dynamic distribution of therapeutics in real-time. This work highlights the great potential of smart P-TN-Dox@CM nanogels as a versatile nanoplatform to integrate multimodalities for precise chemo-photothermal synergistic therapy in combating cancers.

Multifunctional Nanoplatform for NIR-II Imaging-Guided Synergistic Oncotherapy

Tumors are a major public health issue of concern to humans, seriously threatening the safety of people's lives and property. With the increasing demand for early and accurate diagnosis and efficient treatment of tumors, noninvasive optical imaging (including fluorescence imaging and photoacoustic imaging) and tumor synergistic therapies (phototherapy synergistic with chemotherapy, phototherapy synergistic with immunotherapy, etc.) have received increasing attention. In particular, light in the near-infrared second region (NIR-II) has triggered great research interest due to its penetration depth, minimal tissue autofluorescence, and reduced tissue absorption and scattering. Nanomaterials with many advantages, such as high brightness, great photostability, tunable photophysical properties, and excellent biosafety offer unlimited possibilities and are being investigated for NIR-II tumor imaging-guided synergistic oncotherapy. In recent years, many researchers have tried various approaches to investigate nanomaterials, including gold nanomaterials, two-dimensional materials, metal sulfide oxides, polymers, carbon nanomaterials, NIR-II dyes, and other nanomaterials for tumor diagnostic and therapeutic integrated nanoplatform construction. In this paper, the application of multifunctional nanomaterials in tumor NIR-II imaging and collaborative therapy in the past three years is briefly reviewed, and the current research status is summarized and prospected, with a view to contributing to future tumor therapy.

A New Strategy to Elevate Absorptivity of AIEgens for Intensified NIR-II Emission and Synergized Multimodality Therapy

High-efficiency absorptivity is crucial for the construction of high-performance luminescent materials, especially the long-wavelength near-infrared II (NIR-II) materials; thus seeking an efficient and universal strategy to elevate the absorptivity is extremely important but is still an intractable challenge. In this work, a simple but efficient design strategy is discovered, involving the introduction of gold(I) unit that could effectively elevate the absorptivity of aggregation-induced-emission luminogens (AIEgens). As a result of the efficient elevation of absorptivity, the representative AIE-active TBTP-Au shows more superior NIR-II (1220 nm) luminescence, much higher photothermal conversion efficiency, and unique intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generating ability compared with that of the TBTP ligand. Taking advantage of these improvements, the fabricated tumor-targeting TBTP-Au-cRGD nanoparticles achieve specific NIR-II tumorous imaging in vivo and exert high-efficiency cancer therapy via the synergistic chemotherapy and photothermal therapy. Thus, this work provides a new and efficient strategy to construct high-absorption luminescent materials and demonstrates the great potential of gold(I)-based AIEgens as multifunctional theranostic agents.

Emissive Nanoparticles from Co-assembly of Metallatetragon and Amphiphilic Tetraphenylethylene for Cancer Theranostics

Platinum(II)-based metallacycles/cages have obtained tremendous attention due to their fascinating topology and wide range of applications, such as fluorescent materials, cell imaging, and tumor treatment. In this work, a metallatetragon (1) was constructed from 4-(4-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)phenyl)pyridine (2) and 90° cis-Pt(II) (Pt) in acetone through the strategy called "coordination driven self-assembly". Interestingly, through co-assembly of 1 and poly(ethylene glycol)-modified tetraphenylethylene (TPE-PEG22), fluorescent nanotheranostics, which could generate singlet oxygen (1O2) under the NIR irradiation and release Pt drugs under a low-pH microenvironment, were prepared successfully. The obtained theranostics could realize living cell imaging and synergistic chemo-photodynamic therapy in vitro and in vivo.

Visual Multifunctional Aggregation-Induced Emission-Based Bacterial Cellulose for Killing of Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria-related wound infections are a thorny issue. It is urgent to develop new antibacterial wound dressings that can not only prevent wounds from MDR bacteria infection but also promote wound healing. Herein, an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) molecule BITT-composited bacterial cellulose (BC) is presented as wound dressings. BC-BITT composites have good transparency, making it easy to monitor the wound healing process through the composite membrane. The BC-BITT composites retain the advantages of biocompatible BC, and display photodynamic and photothermal synergistic antibacterial effects under irradiation of a 660 nm laser. Furthermore, the BC-BITT composites show excellent wound healing performance in a mouse full-thickness skin wound model infected by MDR bacteria, simultaneously with negligible toxicity. This work paves a way for treating clinically troublesome wound infections.

Mitochondria-Targeted Fluorescent Nanoparticles with Large Stokes Shift for Long-Term BioImaging

Mitochondria (MITO) play a significant role in various physiological processes and are a key organelle associated with different human diseases including cancer, diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, etc. Thus, detecting the activity of MITO in real time is becoming more and more important. Herein, a novel class of amphiphilic aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active probe fluorescence (AC-QC nanoparticles) based on a quinoxalinone scaffold was developed for imaging MITO. AC-QC nanoparticles possess an excellent ability to monitor MITO in real-time. This probe demonstrated the following advantages: (1) lower cytotoxicity; (2) superior photostability; and (3) good performance in long-term imaging in vitro. Each result of these indicates that self-assembled AC-QC nanoparticles can be used as effective and promising MITO-targeted fluorescent probes.

Tunable Nanoparticles with Aggregation-Induced Emission Heater for Precise Synergistic Photothermal and Thermodynamic Oral Cancer Therapy of Patient-Derived Tumor Xenograft

The fluorophores in the second near-infrared (NIR-II) biological window (1000 - 1700 nm) show great application prospects in the fields of biology and optical communications. However, both excellent radiative transition and nonradiative transition cannot be achieved simultaneously for the majority of traditional fluorophores. Herein, tunable nanoparticles formulated with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) heater are developed rationally. The system can be implemented via the development of an ideal synergistic system that can not only produce photothermal from nonspecific triggers but also trigger carbon radical release. Once accumulating in tumors and subsequently being irradiated with 808 nm laser, the nanoparticles (NMB@NPs) encapsulated with NMDPA-MT-BBTD (NMB) are splitted due to the photothermal effect of NMB, leading to the decomposition of azo bonds in the nanoparticle matrix to generate carbon radical. Accompanied by second near-infrared (NIR-II) window emission from the NMB, fluorescence image-guided thermodynamic therapy (TDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) which significantly inhibited the growth of oral cancer and negligible systemic toxicity is achieved synergistically. Taken together, this AIE luminogens-based synergistic photothermal-thermodynamic strategy brings a new insight into the design of superior versatile fluorescent NPs for precise biomedical applications and holds great promise to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of cancer therapy.

Substituent Effects on Fluorescence Properties of AIEgens Based on Coumarin-3-formylhydrazone and their Application in Cell Imaging

AIE-active compounds have lately attracted considerable attention owing to their versatile applications, especially in OLED and bioimaging. Herein, a series of coumarin-3-formylhydrazone derivatives (CFH-1, 2, 3 and 4) were developed for investigating their AIE and solid-state luminescence behaviors. All the obtained compounds emit varying degrees of solid-state fluorescence. CFH-1 and 2 show the typical AIE characteristics, while CFH-3 and 4 exhibit stronger solution fluorescence than their aggregation-induced emission. The single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of CFH-1 and CFH-3 showed that both of them adopt planar conformation and the CH···O hydrogen bonding plays a crucial role in their crystal packing. Meanwhile, there is a notable difference between them. Successive π-π stacking interaction was observed in the crystal packing of CFH-1, while the crystals of CFH-3 contain dimeric π-π stacking interaction. Their distinct crystal packing interactions result in their different fluorescence properties. Moreover, both CFH-1 and CFH-2 displayed excellent bioimaging performances in living cells.

Aggregation-Induced Emission-Active Nanostructures: Beyond Biomedical Applications

The discovery of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) phenomenon in 2001 has had a significant impact on materials development across different research disciplines. AIE-active materials have been widely exploited for various applications in optoelectronics, sensing, biomedical, and stimuli-responsive systems, etc. This is made possible by integrating AIE features with other fields of science and engineering, such as nanoscience and nanotechnology. AIE has been extensively employed, particularly for biomedical applications, such as biosensing, bioimaging, and theranostics. However, development of AIE-based nanotechnology for other applications is comparatively less, although there have been increasing research activities in recent years. Given the significance and potential of the marriage between AIE hallmark and nanotechnology in AIE-active materials development, this review article summarizes and showcases the latest research efforts in AIE-based nanomaterials, including nanomaterials synthesis and their nonbiomedical applications, such as sensing, optoelectronics, functional coatings, and stimuli-responsive systems. A perspective on the outlook of AIE-based nanostructured materials and relevant nanotechnology for nonbiomedical applications will be provided, giving an insight into how to design AIE-active nanostructures as well as their applications beyond the biomedical domain.

Platinum(II)-Metallaclip-Based Theranostics for Cell Imaging and Synergetic Chemotherapy-Photodynamic Therapy

Supramolecular coordination complexes formed by coordination-induced assembly not only avoid the loss of activity of precursors but also provide an efficient way for controlled release, which can be further used in various fields of biology such as drug delivery, cell imaging, and tumor treatment. In this work, a Pt^II metallaclip (4) was prepared from 4-[4-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)phenyl]pyridine (1), 5,10,15-triphenyl-20-(pyridin-4-yl)porphyrin (2), 90^o Pt, and glycol-chain-modified isophthalic acid (3) in an acetone/water mixture through the "coordination-driven self-assembly" method. ³¹P and ¹H NMR spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry were used to characterize the obtained metallaclip 4. 4 can self-assemble into fluorescent nanostructures in aqueous solution because of the tetraphenylethylene unit and its amphiphilic nature. Importantly, the fluorescent nanoparticles not only can be employed for cell imaging but also can generate singlet oxygen (¹O₂) under 660 nm laser irradiation and the release of Pt drug in the tumor issue for cancer therapy. The work may provide a new way for scientists to construct functional biomaterials with multiple applications via molecular self-assembly.

Efficient antibacterial AIEgens induced ROS for selective photodynamic treatment of bacterial keratitis

Bacterial keratitis (BK) is an acute infection of the cornea, accompanied by uneven epithelium boundaries with stromal ulceration, potentially resulting in vision loss. Topical antibiotic is the regular treatment for BK. However, the incidence rate of multidrug-resistant bacteria limits the application of traditional antibiotics. Therefore, a cationic aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) named TTVP is utilized for the treatment of BK. TTVP showed no obvious cytotoxicity in maintaining the normal cell morphology and viability under a limited concentration, and revealed the ability to selectively combine with bacteria in normal ocular environment. After light irradiation, TTVP produced reactive oxygen species (ROS), thus exerting efficient antibacterial ability in vitro. What's more, in rat models of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infection, the therapeutic intervention of TTVP lessens the degree of corneal opacity and inflammatory infiltration, limiting the spread of inflammation. Besides, TTVP manifested superior antibacterial efficacy than levofloxacin in acute BK, endowing its better vision salvage ability than conventional method. This research demonstrates the efficacy and advantages of TTVP as a photodynamic drug in the treatment of BK and represents its promise in clinical application of ocular infections.

Extracellular vesicles as a novel photosensitive drug delivery system for enhanced photodynamic therapy

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising non-invasive therapeutic approach that utilizes photosensitizers (PSs) to generate highly reactive oxygen species (ROS), including singlet oxygen, for removal of targeted cells. PDT has been proven efficacious for the treatment of several diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and diabetic ocular disease. However, the therapeutic efficacy of PDT is limited and often accompanied by side effects, largely due to non-specific delivery of PSs beyond the desired lesion site. Over the past decade, despite various nanoparticular drug delivery systems developed have markedly improved the treatment efficacy while reducing the off-target effects of PSs, concerns over the safety and toxicity of synthetic nanomaterials following intravenous administration are raised. Extracellular vesicles (EVs), a type of nanoparticle released from cells, are emerging as a natural drug delivery system for PSs in light of EV's potentially low immunogenicity and biocompatibility compared with other nanoparticles. This review aims to provide an overview of the research progress in PS delivery systems and propose EVs as an alternative PS delivery system for PDT. Moreover, the challenges and future perspectives of EVs for PS delivery are discussed.

Biosynthetic Dendritic Cell-Exocytosed Aggregation-Induced Emission Nanoparticles for Synergistic Photodynamic Immunotherapy

Dendritic cell (DC)-derived small extracellular vesicles (DEVs) are recognized as a highly promising alternative to DC vaccines; however, the clinical testing of DEV-based immunotherapy has shown limited therapeutic efficacy. Herein, we develop a straightforward strategy in which DCs serve as a cell reactor to exocytose high-efficient DEV-mimicking aggregation-induced emission (AIE) nanoparticles (DEV-AIE NPs) at a scaled-up yield for synergistic photodynamic immunotherapy. Exocytosed DEV-AIE NPs inherit not only the immune-modulation proteins from parental DCs, enabling T cell activation, but also the loaded AIE-photosensitizer MBPN-TCyP, inducing superior immunogenic cell death (ICD) by selectively accumulating in the mitochondria of tumor cells. Eventually, DEV-AIE synergistic photodynamic immunotherapy elicits dramatic immune responses and efficient eradication of primary tumors, distant tumors, and tumor metastases. In addition, cancer stem cells (CSCs) in 4T1 and CT26 solid tumors were significantly inhibited by the immune functional DEV-AIE NPs. Our work presents a facile method for the cellular generation of EV-biomimetic NPs and demonstrates that the integration of DEVs and AIE photosensitizers is a powerful direction for the production of clinical anticancer nanovaccines.

Structure and functions of Aggregation-Induced Emission-Photosensitizers in anticancer and antimicrobial theranostics

Photosensitizers with Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) can allow the efficient light-mediated generation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) based on their complex molecular structure, while interacting with living cells. They achieve better tissue targeting and allow penetration of different wavelengths of Ultraviolet-Visible-Infrared irradiation. Not surprisingly, they are useful for fluorescence image-guided Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) against cancers of diverse origin. AIE-photosensitizers can also function as broad spectrum antimicrobials, capable of destroying the outer wall of microbes such as bacteria or fungi without the issues of drug resistance, and can also bind to viruses and deactivate them. Often, they exhibit poor solubility and cellular toxicity, which compromise their theranostic efficacy. This could be circumvented by using suitable nanomaterials for improved biological compatibility and cellular targeting. Such dual-function AIE-photosensitizers nanoparticles show unparalleled precision for image-guided detection of tumors as well as generation of ROS for targeted PDT in living systems, even while using low power visible light. In short, the development of AIE-photosensitizer nanoparticles could be a better solution for light-mediated destruction of unwanted eukaryotic cells and selective elimination of prokaryotic pathogens, although, there is a dearth of pre-clinical and clinical data in the literature.

Antibacterial Theranostic Agents with Negligible Living Cell Invasiveness: AIE-Active Cationic Amphiphiles Regulated by Alkyl Chain Engineering

To address the threat of bacterial infection in the following post-antibiotic era, developing effective antibacterial approaches is of utmost urgency. Theranostic medicine integrating diagnosis and therapy is a promising protocol to fight against pathogenic bacteria. But numerous reported antibacterial theranostic materials are disclosed to be trapped in the excessive invasiveness to living mammal cells, leading to false positives and possible biosafety risks. Herein, a series of cationic pyridinium-substituted phosphindole oxide derivatives featuring aggregation-induced emission are designed, and alkyl chain engineering is conducted to finely tune their hydrophobicity and investigate their bioaffinity preference for living mammal cells and pathogenic bacteria. Most importantly, an efficient theranostic agent (PyBu-PIO) is acquired that is free from living cell invasiveness with negligible cytotoxicity and yet holds a good affinity for Gram-positive bacteria, including drug-resistant strains, with a superior inactivating effect. Externally applying PyBu-PIO onto Gram-positive bacteria-infected skin wounds can achieve creditable imaging effects and successfully accelerate the healing processes with reliable biosafety. This work proposes living cell invasiveness as a criterion for antibacterial theranostic materials and provides important enlightenment for the design of antibacterial theranostic materials.

Recent advances of aggregation-induced emission materials for fluorescence image-guided surgery

Real-time intraoperative guidance is essential during various surgical treatment of many diseases. Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) materials have shown great potential for guiding surgeons during complex interventions, with the merits of deep tissue penetration, high quantum yield, high molar absorptivity, low background, good targeting ability and excellent photostability. Herein, we provided insights to design efficient AIE materials regarding three key parameters, i.e., deep-tissue penetration ability, high brightness of AIE luminogens (AIEgens), and precise tumor/other pathology nidus targeting strategies, for realizing better application of fluorescence image-guided surgery. Representative interdisciplinary achievements were outlined for the demonstration of this emerging field. Challenges and future opportunities of AIE materials were briefly discussed. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive view of AIE materials for intraoperative guidance for researchers and surgeons, and to inspire more further correlational studies in the new frontiers of image-guided surgery.

Programmable design and self assembly of peptide conjugated AIEgens for biomedical applications

Aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) possess enhanced fluorescence in highly aggregated states, thus enabling AIEgens as a promising module for highly emissive fluorescence biomaterials. So far, AIEgens-based nanomaterials and their hybrids have been reported for biomedical applications. Benefiting from the intrinsic biocompatibility and biofunction-editing properties of peptides, peptide-AIEgens hybrid biomaterials reveal unlimited possibilities including target capacity, specificity, stimuli-responsiveness, self-assembly, controllable structural transformation, etc.. In the last two decades, peptide-AIEgens hybrid nanomaterials with a unique design concept in aggregated states have achieved various biomedical applications such as biosensing, bioimaging, imaging-guided surgery, drug delivery and therapy. More recently, programmable design of peptide-AIEgens for in situ self-assembly provides a unique strategy for constructing intelligent entities with defined biological functions. In this review, we summarize the basic design principle of programmable peptide-AIEgens, structure-effect relationship and their unusual biomedical effects. Finally, an outlook and perspective toward future challenges and developments of peptide-AIEgens nanomaterials are concluded.

Optical molecular imaging and theranostics in neurological diseases based on aggregation-induced emission luminogens

Optical molecular imaging and image-guided theranostics benefit from special and specific imaging agents, for which aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) have been regarded as good candidates in many biomedical applications. They display a large Stokes shift, high quantum yield, good biocompatibility, and resistance to photobleaching. Neurological diseases are becoming a substantial burden on individuals and society that affect over 50 million people worldwide. It is urgently needed to explore in more detail the brain structure and function, learn more about pathological processes of neurological diseases, and develop more efficient approaches for theranostics. Many AIEgens have been successfully designed, synthesized, and further applied for molecular imaging and image-guided theranostics in neurological diseases such as cerebrovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, and brain tumor, which help us understand more about the pathophysiological state of brain through noninvasive optical imaging approaches. Herein, we focus on representative AIEgens investigated on brain vasculature imaging and theranostics in neurological diseases including cerebrovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, and brain tumor. Considering different imaging modalities and various therapeutic functions, AIEgens have great potential to broaden neurological research and meet urgent needs in clinical practice. It will be inspiring to develop more practical and versatile AIEgens as molecular imaging agents for preclinical and clinical use on neurological diseases.

Aggregation-induced emission: An emerging concept in brain science

As an emerging concept in brain science, aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has captivated much interest by virtue of the unique superiority of AIE fluorophores in terms of emission intensity, imaging resolution, biocompatibility and photosensitivity. This review mainly overviews the current state-of-art advances of AIE fluorophores achieving the superb performance in brain imaging and therapy, which facilitate deep tissue penetration, high contrast to autofluorescence and efficient blood-brain barrier (BBB) crossing by rational molecular design and functionalized strategies. We expect this review serve as a modest spur to push forward the blooming growth of research in this fertile field.

Synthesis of tetraphenylethene-based D-A conjugated molecules with near-infrared AIE features, and their application in photodynamic therapy

Herein, five aggregation-induced emission (AIE) photosensitizers (PSs) with D-π-A structures are smoothly designed and synthesized through donor and acceptor engineering. The photophysical properties and theoretical calculation results show that the synergistic effect of methoxy substituted tetraphenylethene (MTPE), 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene can enhance the intramolecular charge transfer effect (ICT), and promote the intersystem crossing (ISC) process of the whole molecule. In these AIE-PSs, the best-performing AIE-PS (MTPE-DT-Py) has bright NIR (740 nm) emission, the highest ¹O₂ generation efficiency (5.9-fold that of Rose Bengal) and efficient mitochondrial targeting ability. Subsequently, PDT anti-cancer and anti-bacterial experiments indicate that MTPE-DT-Py could obviously target mitochondria and kill breast cancer cells (MCF-7), and selectively inactivate S. aureus (G(+)) under white light irradiation. This work mainly proposes a practical design strategy for high effect AIE-PSs and provides more excellent candidates for fluorescence imaging-guided photodynamic therapy.

NIR-II phototherapy agents with aggregation-induced emission characteristics for tumor imaging and therapy

As one of the major public health concerns, malignant tumors threaten people's lives. With the increasing demand for early accurate diagnosis and the safe treatment of tumors, non-invasive optical imaging (including fluorescence imaging and photoacoustic imaging) and phototherapy (including photothermal therapy and photodynamic therapy) have received much attention. In particular, light in the near-infrared second region (NIR-II) has been attracting research interest, owing to its deep penetration, minimal tissue autofluorescence, and decreased tissue absorption and scattering. Among all biological materials, organic nanomaterials with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties have attracted significant attention, owing to various incomparable advantages, such as high brightness, good photostability, tunable photophysical properties, and good biosafety. To modulate the working optical region of AIE molecules to the NIR-II region, many researchers have tried a variety of methods in recent years, and the focus of this review is to summarize the three most common methods from the perspective of molecular design strategies. In addition, this article briefly reviews the recent five-year progress of NIR-II AIE luminophores in tumor imaging and phototherapy applications. The research status is also summarized and prospected, with the hope of contributing to further research.

Dynamic Adjust of Non-Radiative and Radiative Attenuation of AIE Molecules Reinforces NIR-II Imaging Mediated Photothermal Therapy and Immunotherapy

Due to the aggregation-caused quenching effect and near-infrared I poor penetration capabilities of common fluorescent molecules, their applications in visualized imaging and photoactivated treatment are limited. Therefore, new near-infrared II (NIR-II) molecule (named TST), which had the abilities of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and photothermal therapy are synthesized. Moreover, in order to further improve its fluorescent yield and therapeutic effect, camptothecin prodrug (CPT-S-PEG) and novel immune checkpoint inhibitor AZD4635 are used to co-assemble with TST into nanoparticles for drug delivery. On account of the strong interaction of camptothecin and TST, the intramolecular rotation of TST is limited, thereby inhibiting non-radiation attenuation and promoting fluorescence generation when the nanoparticles are intact. As nanoparticles uptake by cancer cells, redox sensitive CPT-S-PEG is degraded and the nanoparticles disintegrate. The released TST enhances non-radiative attenuation and expedites photothermal conversion because of the removal of the constraint of camptothecin. Furthermore, photothermal therapy induces immunogenic cell death of cancer cells and releases abundant ATP into the tumor microenvironment to recruit immune cells. However, superfluous ATP is converted into immunosuppressive adenosine through the CD39-CD73-A2AR pathway. The AZD4635 released by photothermal disintegration of the nanoparticles just blocks this pathway timely, achieving favorable synergistic effect of photothermal therapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy.

The fast-growing field of photo-driven theranostics based on aggregation-induced emission

Photo-driven theranostics, also known as phototheranostics, relying on the diverse excited-state energy conversions of theranostic agents upon photoexcitation represents a significant branch of theranostics, which ingeniously integrate diagnostic imaging and therapeutic interventions into a single formulation. The combined merits of photoexcitation and theranostics endow photo-driven theranostics with numerous superior features. The applications of aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens), a particular category of fluorophores, in the field of photo-driven theranostics have been intensively studied by virtue of their versatile advantageous merits of favorable biocompatibility, tuneable photophysical properties, unique aggregation-enhanced theranostic (AET) features, ideal AET-favored on-site activation ability and ready construction of one-for-all multimodal theranostics. This review summarised the significant achievements of photo-driven theranostics based on AIEgens, which were detailedly elaborated and classified by their diverse theranostic modalities into three groups: fluorescence imaging-guided photodynamic therapy, photoacoustic imaging-guided photothermal therapy, and multi-modality theranostics. Particularly, the tremendous advantages and individual design strategies of AIEgens in pursuit of high-performance photosensitizing output, high photothermal conversion and multimodal function capability by adjusting the excited-state energy dissipation pathways are emphasized in each section. In addition to highlighting AIEgens as promising templates for modulating energy dissipation in the application of photo-driven theranostics, current challenges and opportunities in this field are also discussed.

NIR-II Aggregation-Induced Emission Luminogens for Tumor Phototheranostics

As an emerging and powerful material, aggregation-induced emission luminogens (AIEgens), which could simultaneously provide a precise diagnosis and efficient therapeutics, have exhibited significant superiorities in the field of phototheranostics. Of particular interest is phototheranostics based on AIEgens with the emission in the range of second near-infrared (NIR-II) range (1000-1700 nm), which has promoted the feasibility of their clinical applications by virtue of numerous preponderances benefiting from the extremely long wavelength. In this minireview, we summarize the latest advances in the field of phototheranostics based on NIR-II AIEgens during the past 3 years, including the strategies of constructing NIR-II AIEgens and their applications in different theranostic modalities (FLI-guided PTT, PAI-guided PTT, and multimodal imaging-guided PDT-PTT synergistic therapy); in addition, a brief conclusion of perspectives and challenges in the field of phototheranostics is given at the end.

Assessing Differential Binding of Aggregation-Induced Emission-Based Luminogens to Host Interacting Surface Proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza Virus-An in silico Approach

Early detection of asymptomatic cases through mass screening is essential to constrain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission. However, the existing diagnostic strategies are either resource-intensive, time-consuming, or less sensitive, which limits their use in the development of rapid mass screening strategies. There is a clear pressing need for simple, fast, sensitive, and economical diagnostic strategy for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) screening even in resource-limited settings. In the current work, we assessed the in silico feasibility of directly labeling virus surface proteins using fluorogenic molecules with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) property. Here, we present the results for binding of two such AIE probes, phosphonic acid derivative of tetraphenyl ethylene (TPE-P) and sulfonic acid derivative of tetraphenyl ethylene (TPE-S), to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein based on in silico docking studies. Our results show that both TPE-P and TPE-S bind to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)-binding, and N-terminal domains of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Molecular dynamic simulations have revealed specific nature of these interactions. We also show that TPE-P and TPE-S bind to hemagglutinin protein of influenza virus, but the interaction strength was found to be different. This difference in interaction strength may affect the emission spectrum of aforementioned AIE probes. Together, these results form a basis for the development of AIE-based diagnostics for differential detection of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses. We believe that these in silico predictions certainly aid in differentially labeling of the both viruses toward the development of rapid detection by AIE probes.

Photoactivatable Biomedical Materials Based on Luminogens with Aggregation-Induced Emission (AIE) Characteristics

Fluorescence probes with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) property are fascinating and vital in biological fields due to their bright fluorescence in the solid state. In contrast, traditional AIE materials are obscured by the off-target effects and lack of spatial and temporal control. Photoactivatable materials with AIE characteristics, whose physicochemical behaviors can be remotely activated by light, provide great potential in biochemical information acquisition with high spatial and temporal resolution. By using AIE-featured photoactivatable fluorescence probes, accurate analysis of the targets of interest is possible. For example, where, when, and to what extent a process is started or stopped by manipulating the non-invasive light accurately. Thus, many researchers are enthusiastic about developing AIE-featured photoactivatable materials and mainly focus on developing novel molecules by rational molecular structure design, and exploring advanced applications by appropriate molecular functionalization. In this review, the recent achievements of photoactivatable materials with AIE characteristics from the aspects involving inherent mechanism of photoactivity, molecular design strategy, and the corresponding applications in biological fields, are summarized. The biological applications are highlighted and discussed, including photoactivatable bioimaging, diagnosis, and photo-controlled therapy. Finally, the challenges and prospects of the AIE-featured photoactivatable materials are also outlined and discussed.

Phototherapy and optical waveguides for the treatment of infection

With rapid emergence of multi-drug resistant microbes, it is imperative to seek alternative means for infection control. Optical waveguides are an auspicious delivery method for precise administration of phototherapy. Studies have shown that phototherapy is promising in fighting against a myriad of infectious pathogens (i.e. viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa) including biofilm-forming species and drug-resistant strains while evading treatment resistance. When administered via optical waveguides, phototherapy can treat both superficial and deep-tissue infections while minimizing off-site effects that afflict conventional phototherapy and pharmacotherapy. Despite great therapeutic potential, exact mechanisms, materials, and fabrication designs to optimize this promising treatment option are underexplored. This review outlines principles and applications of phototherapy and optical waveguides for infection control. Research advances, challenges, and outlook regarding this delivery system are rigorously discussed in a hope to inspire future developments of optical waveguide-mediated phototherapy for the management of infection and beyond.

Practicable Applications of Aggregation-Induced Emission with Biomedical Perspective

Considerable efforts have been made into developing aggregation-induced emission fluorogens (AIEgens)-containing nano-therapeutic systems due to the excellent properties of AIEgens. Compared to other fluorescent molecules, AIEgens have advantages including low background, high signal-to-noise ratio, good sensitivity, and resistance to photobleaching, in addition to being exempt from concentration quenching or aggregation-caused quenching effects. The present review outlines the major developments in the biomedical applications of AIEgens-containing systems. From a literature survey, the recent AIE works are reviewed and the reasons why AIEgens are chosen in various biomedical applications are highlighted. The research activities on AIEgens-containing systems are increasing rapidly, therefore, the present review is timely.

Nipecotic-Acid-Tethered, Naphthalene-Diimide-Based, Orange-Emitting Organic Nanoparticles as Targeted Delivery Vehicle and Diagnostic Probe toward GABAA-Receptor-Enriched Cancer Cells

This article demonstrates target-specific cellular imaging of GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) receptor (GABA_AR)-enriched cells (SH-SY5Y and A549) with therapeutic efficacy by naphthalene diimide (NDI)-derived fluorescent organic nanoparticles (FONPs). Self-assembly-driven formation of spherical organic particles by nipecotic-acid-tethered l-aspartic acid appended NDI derivative (NDI-nip) took place in DMSO-water through J-type aggregation. NDI-nip having a naphthyl residue and a nipecotic acid unit at both terminals exhibited aggregation-induced emission (AIE) at and above 60% water content in DMSO because of excimer formation at λ_em = 579 nm. The orange-emitting NDI-nip FONPs (1:99 v/v DMSO-water) having excellent cell viability and high photostability were used for selective bioimaging and killing of GABA_AR-overexpressed cancer cells through target-specific delivery of the anticancer drug curcumin. The fluorescence intensity of NDI-nip FONPs were quenched in GABA_AR-enriched neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) and cancerous cells (A549). Notably, in the presence of GABA, the NDI-nip FONPs exhibited their native fluorescence within the same cell lines. Importantly, no such quenching and regaining of NDI-nip FONP emission in the presence of GABA was noted in the case of the noncancerous cell NIH3T3. The killing efficiency of curcumin-loaded NDI-nip FONPs ([curcumin] = 100 μM and [NDI-nip FONPs] = 50 μM) was significantly higher in the cases of SH-SY5Y (88 ± 3%) and A549 (72 ± 2%) than in NIH3T3 (37 ± 2). The presence of a nipecotic acid moiety facilitated the selective cellular internalization of NDI-nip FONPs into GABA_AR-overexpressing cells. Hence, these orange-emitting NDI-nip FONPs may be exploited as a targeted diagnostic probe as well as a drug delivery vehicle for GABA_AR-enriched cancer cells.

TEPP-46-Based AIE Fluorescent Probe for Detection and Bioimaging of PKM2 in Living Cells

Pyruvate kinase (PK) M2 (PKM2), a glycolytic enzyme, is a hallmark of different types of tumors and plays a significant role in the Warburg effect. However, there is no fluorescent probe for PKM2 that has been reported yet. In this study, TEPC466, a novel TEPP-46-based aggregation-induced emission (AIE) probe for the detection of PKM2, was designed, synthesized, and fully characterized by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and high-resolution mass spectrometry. When the fluorescent agent, coumarine, was conjugated to TEPP-46, the bioprobe TEPC466 showed a high degree of selectivity and sensitivity for the detection of PKM2 protein via the AIE effect. TEPC466 was then successfully applied in imaging the PKM2 protein in colorectal cancer cells with low toxicity. Moreover, structure-based modeling and the PK activity assay confirmed that TEPC466 has a better binding with PKM2 than TEPP-46, which suggests that TEPC466 could also be a good agonist of PKM2. Taken together, the bioprobe shows potential in selective detection of PKM2 and provides a useful tool for cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Design, Synthesis, and Utility of Defined Molecular Scaffolds

A growing theme in chemistry is the joining of multiple organic molecular building blocks to create functional molecules. Diverse derivatizable structures—here termed “scaffolds” comprised of “hubs”—provide the foundation for systematic covalent organization of a rich variety of building blocks. This review encompasses 30 tri- or tetra-armed molecular hubs (e.g., triazine, lysine, arenes, dyes) that are used directly or in combination to give linear, cyclic, or branched scaffolds. Each scaffold is categorized by graph theory into one of 31 trees to express the molecular connectivity and overall architecture. Rational chemistry with exacting numbers of derivatizable sites is emphasized. The incorporation of water-solubilization motifs, robust or self-immolative linkers, enzymatically cleavable groups and functional appendages affords immense (and often late-stage) diversification of the scaffolds. Altogether, 107 target molecules are reviewed along with 19 syntheses to illustrate the distinctive chemistries for creating and derivatizing scaffolds. The review covers the history of the field up through 2020, briefly touching on statistically derivatized carriers employed in immunology as counterpoints to the rationally assembled and derivatized scaffolds here, although most citations are from the past two decades. The scaffolds are used widely in fields ranging from pure chemistry to artificial photosynthesis and biomedical sciences.

AIEgen-loaded nanofibrous membrane as photodynamic/photothermal antimicrobial surface for sunlight-triggered bioprotection

The outbreak of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 causes an urgent need for abundant personal protective equipment (PPE) which leads to a huge shortage of raw materials. Additionally, the inappropriate disposal and sterilization of PPE may result in a high risk of cross-contamination. Therefore, the exploration of antimicrobial materials possessing both microbe interception and self-decontamination effects to develop reusable and easy-to-sterilize PPE is of great importance. Herein, an aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active luminogen-loaded nanofibrous membrane (TTVB@NM) sharing sunlight-triggered photodynamic/photothermal anti-pathogen functions are prepared using the electrospinning technique. Thanks to its porous nanostructure, TTVB@NM shows excellent interception effects toward ultrafine particles and pathogenic aerosols. Benefiting from the superior photophysical properties of the AIE-active dopants, TTVB@NM exhibits integrated properties of wide absorption in visible light range, efficient ROS generation, and moderate photothermal conversion performance. A series of antimicrobial evaluations reveal that TTVB@NM could effectively inactivate pathogenic aerosols containing bacteria (inhibition rate: >99%), fungi (~88%), and viruses (>99%) within only 10 min sunlight irradiation. This study represents a new strategy to construct reusable and easy-to-sterilize hybrid materials for potential bioprotective applications.

Molecular Engineering of High-Performance Aggregation-Induced Emission Photosensitizers to Boost Cancer Theranostics Mediated by Acid-Triggered Nucleus-Targeted Nanovectors

Phototheranostics involving both fluorescence imaging and photodynamic therapy has been recognized to be potentially powerful for cancer treatment by virtue of various intrinsic advantages. However, the state-of-the-art materials in this area are still far from ideal toward practical applications, ascribed to their respective and collective drawbacks, such as inefficient imaging quality, inferior reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, the lack of subcellular-targeting capability, and dissatisfactory delivery. In this paper, these shortcomings are successfully addressed through the integration of finely engineered photosensitizers with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) features and well tailored nanocarrier systems. The yielded AIE NPs simultaneously exhibit broad absorption in the visible-light region, bright near-infrared fluorescence emission, high ROS generation, as well as tumor lysosomal acidity-activated and nucleus-targeted delivery functions, making them promising for precise and efficient phototheranostics. Both in vitro and in vivo evaluations show that the presented nanotheranostic systems bearing good photostability and appreciable biosecurity perform well in fluorescence imaging-guided photodynamic cancer therapy. This study thus not only extends the application scopes of AIE nanomaterials but also offers useful insights into constructing advanced cancer phototheranostics.

Highly Efficient Near-Infrared Photosensitizers with Aggregation-Induced Emission Characteristics: Rational Molecular Design and Photodynamic Cancer Cell Ablation

Photosensitizers (PSs) that play a decisive role in effective photodynamic therapy (PDT) have attracted great research interest. PSs with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics could overcome the deficiencies of traditional PSs that usually suffer from the aggregation-caused fluorescence quenching (ACQ) effect in applications and show enhanced emission and high singlet oxygen (¹O₂) generation efficiency in aggregates; therefore, they are outstanding candidates for imaging-guided PDT, and the development of AIE PSs with both excellent photophysical properties and ¹O₂ generation ability is highly desirable. Herein, three AIE fluorogens (AIEgens), BtM, ThM, and NaM, with a donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A) structure were designed and synthesized, and the photosensitizing ability was adjusted by π-linker engineering. All of the three AIEgens showed excellent photostability and high molar absorption coefficients, and their emission edges were extended to the near-infrared (NIR) region, with peaks at 681, 678, and 638 nm, respectively. NaM demonstrated the smallest ΔE_S1-T1, which was ascribed to its better separation degree of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). The AIEgens were fabricated into nanoparticles (NPs) by amphipathic mPEG3000-DSPE encapsulating, and thus the obtained NaM NPs exhibited the best ¹O₂ generation efficiency under white light irradiation, which was almost 3 times that of the renowned PS rose bengal (RB). Furthermore, under white light irradiation, the cell killing efficiency of NaM NPs was also much better than those of the other two AIE PSs and RB. Therefore, NaM NPs revealed great potential to treat superficial diseases as a PS for PDT.

Cyclic Dipeptide: A Privileged Molecular Scaffold to Derive Structural Diversity and Functional Utility

Cyclic dipeptides (CDPs) are the simplest form of cyclic peptides with a wide range of applications from therapeutics to biomaterials. CDP is a versatile molecular platform endowed with unique properties such as conformational rigidity, intermolecular interactions, structural diversification through chemical synthesis, bioavailability and biocompatibility. A variety of natural products with the CDP core exhibit anticancer, antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral activities. The inherent bioactivities have inspired the development of synthetic analogues as drug candidates and drug delivery systems. CDP plays a crucial role as conformation and molecular assembly directing core in the design of molecular receptors, peptidomimetics and fabrication of functional material architectures. In recent years, CDP has rapidly become a privileged scaffold for the design of advanced drug candidates, drug delivery agents, bioimaging, and biomaterials to mitigate numerous disease conditions. This review describes the structural diversification and multifarious biomedical applications of the CDP scaffold, discusses challenges, and provides future directions for the emerging field.

Nanobody modified high-performance AIE photosensitizer nanoparticles for precise photodynamic oral cancer therapy of patient-derived tumor xenograft

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising noninvasive treatment option for patients suffering from superficial tumors, such as oral cancer. However, for photosensitizers (PSs), it remains a grand challenge to simultaneously excel in all the key performance indicators including effective singlet oxygen (¹O₂) generation under clinical laser, specific targeting function and stable far-red (FR)/near-infrared (NIR) emission with low dark toxicity. In addition, traditional PS nanoparticles (NPs) for clinical use suffer from quenched fluorescence and reduced ¹O₂ production caused by molecular aggregation. To address these issues, AIEPS5 with aggregation-induced FR/NIR emission and effective ¹O₂ generation under 532 nm laser irradiation is designed by precise optimization of the chemical structure. By attaching a polyethylene glycol (PEG) chain onto AIEPS5, the yielded amphiphilic AIEPS5-PEG2000 can spontaneously self-assemble into water dispersible NPs, which are further endowed with targeted delivery function via the decoration of anti-Her-2 nanobody (NB). The bespoke AIEPS5-NPs-NB exhibit effective ¹O₂ generation capability, bright FR/NIR emission centered at 680 nm, and negligible dark toxicity, which outperform Heimbofen, a clinically approved PS in PDT using a patient-derived tumor xenograft model.

Quantitative self-assembly of pure drug cocktails as injectable nanomedicines for synergistic drug delivery and cancer therapy

New strategies to fabricate nanomedicines with high translational capacity are urgently desired. Herein, a new class of self-assembled drug cocktails that addresses the multiple challenges of manufacturing clinically useful cancer nanomedicines was reported.

Methods: With the aid of a molecular targeted agent, dasatinib (DAS), cytotoxic cabazitaxel (CTX) forms nanoassemblies (CD NAs) through one-pot process, with nearly quantitative entrapment efficiency and ultrahigh drug loading of up to 100%.

Results: Surprisingly, self-assembled CD NAs show aggregation-induced emission, enabling particle trafficking and drug release in living cells. In preclinical models of human cancer, including a patient-derived melanoma xenograft, CD NAs demonstrated striking therapeutic synergy to produce a durable recession in tumor growth. Impressively, CD NAs alleviated the toxicity of the parent CTX agent and showed negligible immunotoxicity in animals.

Conclusions: Overall, this approach does not require any carrier matrices, offering a scalable and cost-effective methodology to create a new generation of nanomedicines for the safe and efficient delivery of drug combinations.