Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a well-established modality for cancer therapy, which locally kills cancer cells when light irradiates a photosensitizer. However, conventional PDT is often limited by the extremely short lifespan and severely limited diffusion distance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by photosensitizer, as well as the penetration depth of visible light activation. Here, we develop a near-infrared (NIR) triggered nanophotosensitizer based on mitochondria targeted titanium dioxide-coated upconversion nanoparticles for PDT against cancer. When irradiated by NIR laser, the nanophotosensitizer could produce ROS in mitochondria, which induced the domino effect on ROS burst. The overproduced ROS accumulated in mitochondria, resulting in mitochondrial collapse and irreversible cell apoptosis. Confocal fluorescence imaging indicated that the mitochondrial targeting and real-time imaging of ROS burst could be achieved in living cells. The complete removal of tumor in vivo confirmed the excellent therapeutic effect of the nanophotosensitizer.

Clinical cancer treatments nowadays still face the challenge of recurrence due to the residual cancer cells and minute lesions in surgeries or chemotherapies. To effectively address the problem, we introduce a strategy for constructing cancer cell nuclear-targeted copper sulfide nanoparticles (NPs) with a significant photothermal effect to completely kill residual cancer cells and prevent local cancer recurrence. The NPs could directly target the tumor cells and further enter the nucleus by the surface modification of RGD and TAT peptides. Under the irradiation of 980 nm near-infrared laser, the NPs rapidly increase the temperature of the nucleus, destroy the genetic substances, and ultimately lead to an exhaustive apoptosis of the cancer cells. In vivo experiments show that the designed NPs could effectively treat cancer and prevent the return of cancer with a single laser irradiation for 5 min. The photothermal therapy strategy with nuclear targeting for cancer therapy and anti-recurrence will provide more possibilities to develop efficient platforms for treating cancer.

A pre-protective strategy for precise tumor targeting and efficient photodynamic therapy was developed using a switchable DNA/upconversion nanocomposite.

Photothermal therapy effectively ablate tumor by the hyperthermia (>50 °C), which was caused by laser irradiation. However, the hyperthermia may inevitably diffuse to the surrounding healthy tissues and induce additional...

The mechanism of selective co-oligomerization of ethylene and 1-hexene by the catalyst [CrCl3(PNPOMe)] (a, PNPOMe = N,N-bis­(bis­(o-methoxyphenyl)­phosphine)­methylamine) has been explored in detail using the density functional theory (DFT) method. The full catalytic cycles for the formation of 1-hexene and 1-decenes were calculated on the basis of the metallacyclic mechanism, and the distribution of all decene isomers was explained by locating Gibbs free energy surfaces of various pathways, which is in good agreement with the experimental results. A spin surface crossing through a minimum energy crossing point (MECP) from a sextet to a quartet surface takes place before the formation of metallacyclopentane, which opens up a much lower energy pathway and thus facilitates the following co-oligomerization reactions. It is worth noting that β-hydrogen agostic-assisted hydrogen transfer is of crucial importance for the decomposition of the metallacycle intermediates to give 1-hexene or decenes. Moreover, an analysis of the Cr–O bond distance and NBO charges indicates the important role of a hemiliable methoxy moiety, which acts as a pendant group in the co-oligomerization of ethylene and 1-hexene by CrCl3(PNPOMe) catalyst.