title: Efficient activation of a visible light-activatable CA4 prodrug through intermolecular photo-unclick chemistry in mitochondria.
abstract: Photo-unclick chemistry mediates visible and near IR-controlled drug release via a singlet oxygen (SO)-cleavable linker. Due to the limited diffusion distance of SO in biological systems, a photosensitizer and the SO-cleavable linker have been conjugated in one molecule or mixed in nano-drug delivery systems. In this communication, we demonstrate a new strategy to activate prodrugs with photo-unclick chemistry in an intermolecular fashion using an SO-cleavable CA4 prodrug and a mitochondria-specific photosensitizer, protoporphyrin IX, formed from prodrug hexyl-5-aminolevulinate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73117, USA. youngjae-you@ouhsc.edu.
authors.forename: Moses
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bio
authors.forename: Pallavi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rajaputra
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Pritam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Thapa
authors.forename: Bomaonye
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tienabeso
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Hurst
authors.forename: Youngjae
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: You