Persistent luminescence phosphor as in-vivo light source for tumoral cyanobacterial photosynthetic oxygenation and photodynamic therapy

Abstract

Tumor oxygenation level has been regarded as an attractive target to elevate the efficiency of photodynamic therapy (PDT). Cyanobacterial photosynthesis-mediated reversal of tumor hypoxia could enable an oxygen-boosted PDT, but is limited by scant penetration depth and efficiency of external light. Herein, aiming at the dual purposes of reducing biological toxicity induced by long-term light irradiation and alleviating hypoxia, we here introduce a novel-designed CaAl 2 O 4 :Eu,Nd blue persistent luminescence material (PLM) as the in vivo light source after pre-excited in vitro . The ingenious construction of blue-emitting PLM with “optical battery” characteristics activates cyanobacterial cells and verteporfin simultaneously, which performs the successive oxygen supply and singlet oxygen generation without the long-term external excitation, resulting in the modulated tumor hypoxic microenvironment and enhanced photodynamic tumor proliferation inhibition efficiency. Both in vitro cellular assessment and in vivo tumor evaluation results affirm the advantages of self-produced oxygen PDT system and evidence the notable antineoplastic outcome. This work develops an irradiation-free photosynthetic bacteria-based PDT platform for the optimization of both oxygen production capacity and light utilization efficiency in cancer treatment, which is expected to promote the clinical progress of microbial-based photonic therapy.

Innovative strategies for photodynamic therapy against hypoxic tumor

“…In this regard, photosynthetic microorganisms (chlorella, cyanobacteria, etc.) are introduced to produce O 2 through photosynthesis under light conditions, thus reversing the hypoxia state in hypoxic tumor cells [82] . In addition, the process of bio-oxygen production by photosynthetic microorganisms under light conditions are also characterized by controllability and continuity.…”

The development of live microorganism-based oxygen shuttles for enhanced hypoxic tumor therapy

“…Shi et al. introduced a new type of blue persistent luminescence material (PLM) into the oxygen production cyanobacteria to construct a novel exogenous radiation-free antitumor platform [ 82 ]. First, cyanobacteria were pre-treated with CaAl 2 O 4 : Eu, Nd (CAO PLM) in vitro.…”

Recent Advances in Hydrogel-Based Phototherapy for Tumor Treatment

“…However, chemodynamic therapy alone is often insufficient to achieve a satisfactory antitumor effect due to the limited H 2 O 2 in the tumor microenvironment [ 268 , 269 , 270 , 271 , 272 ]. Therefore, it is often combined with GOx-mediated starvation therapy, which can produce H 2 O 2 , to achieve the desired therapeutic outcome.…”