title: A Mitochondria-Targeted Photosensitizer Showing Improved Photodynamic Therapy Effects Under Hypoxia.
abstract: Organelle-targeted photosensitizers have been reported to be effective photodynamic therapy (PDT) agents. In this work, we designed and synthesized two iridium(III) complexes that specifically stain the mitochondria and lysosomes of living cells, respectively. Both complexes exhibited long-lived phosphorescence, which is sensitive to oxygen quenching. The photocytotoxicity of the complexes was evaluated under normoxic and hypoxic conditions. The results showed that HeLa cells treated with the mitochondria-targeted complex maintained a slower respiration rate, leading to a higher intracellular oxygen level under hypoxia. As a result, this complex exhibited an improved PDT effect compared to the lysosome-targeted complex, especially under hypoxia conditions, suggestive of a higher practicable potential of mitochondria-targeted PDT agents in cancer therapy.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics and Information Displays and Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT), Nanjing, 210023, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics and Information Displays and Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT), Nanjing, 210023, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics and Information Displays and Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT), Nanjing, 210023, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Kenneth Yin
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics and Information Displays and Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT), Nanjing, 210023, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Huiran
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics and Information Displays and Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT), Nanjing, 210023, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shujuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics and Information Displays and Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT), Nanjing, 210023, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Aqiang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics and Information Displays and Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT), Nanjing, 210023, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics and Information Displays and Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT), Nanjing, 210023, P.R. China. iamqzhao@njupt.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics and Information Displays and Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT), Nanjing, 210023, P.R. China. wei-huang@njtech.edu.cn.|Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (KLOFE) and Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials (SICAM), Nanjing Tech University (NanjingTech), Nanjing, 211816, P.R. China. wei-huang@njtech.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D056831:Coordination Complexes / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia; D007495:Iridium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000187:drug effects*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D010778:Photochemotherapy; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D056831:Coordination Complexes; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D007495:Iridium
keywords: cell death; hypoxia; iridium; photodynamic therapy; singlet oxygen