Heavy-atom-free BODIPY dendrimer: utilizing the spin-vibronic coupling mechanism for two-photon photodynamic therapy in zebrafish†

Abstract

In this study, the heavy-atom-free BODIPY dendrimer TM₄-BDP was synthesized for near-infrared photodynamic therapy, and was composed of a triphenylamine-BODIPY dimer and four 1-(2-morpholinoethyl)-1H-indole-3-ethenyl groups. The TM₄-BDP could achieve near-infrared photodynamic therapy through two different photosensitive pathways, which include one-photon excitation at 660 nm and two-photon excitation at 1000 nm. In the one-photon excitation pathway, the TM₄-BDP could generate singlet oxygen and superoxide radicals under 660 nm illumination. In addition, the one-photon PDT experiment in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (CNE-2) cells also indicated that the TM₄-BDP could specifically accumulate in lysosomes and show great cell phototoxicity with an IC₅₀ of 22.1 μM. In the two-photon excitation pathway, the two-photon absorption cross-section at 1030 nm of TM₄-BDP was determined to be 383 GM, which means that it could generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) under 1000 nm femtosecond laser excitation. Moreover, the two-photon PDT experiment in zebrafish also indicated the TM₄-BDP could be used for two-photon fluorescence imaging and two-photon induced ROS generation in biological environments. Furthermore, in terms of the ROS generation mechanism, the TM₄-BDP employed a novel spin-vibronic coupling intersystem crossing (SV-ISC) process for the mechanism of ROS generation and the femtosecond transient absorption spectra indicated that this novel SV-ISC mechanism was closely related to its charge transfer state lifetime. These above experiments of TM₄-BDP demonstrate that the dendrimer design is an effective strategy for constructing heavy-atom-free BODIPY photosensitizers in the near-infrared region and lay the foundation for two-photon photodynamic therapy in future clinical trials.