Fluorination of Aza-BODIPY for Cancer Cell Plasma Membrane-Targeted Imaging and Therapy.

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces

State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences-Wuhan National Laboratory for Opt

Published: January 2025


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Article Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) holds great potential in cancer treatment, leveraging photosensitizers (PSs) to deliver targeted therapy. Fluorination can optimize the physicochemical and biological properties of PSs for better PDT performance. Here, we report some high-performance multifunctional PSs specifically designed for cancer PDT by fluorinating aza-BODIPY with perfluoro--butoxymethyl (PFBM) groups. Fluorination plays several roles, including enhancing selective cancer cell uptake, plasma membrane (PM) targeting, and inducing pyroptosis. It also enables fluorescence imaging (FLI) and fluorine-19 magnetic resonance imaging (F MRI) as well as facilitates oxygen delivery and oxygen partial pressure (pO) measurements. Comparative physicochemical and biological studies, along with molecular dynamics simulations, reveal that fluorinated PSs selectively eradicate cancer cells by oxidizing PM phospholipids with singlet oxygen (O) and inducing pyroptosis, which enables effectively suppressed tumor growth by self-oxygenated F MRI-FLI-guided PDT in mice. This study demonstrates a fluorination strategy for tailoring high-performance multifunctional cancer PM-targeting materials for cancer therapy and beyond.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11744507PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c17943DOI Listing

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