Oxidative photocatalysis on intracellular membranes lights up PhotoPyro

Abstract

The advent of photon-controlled pyroptosis activation (PhotoPyro) has attracted great interest in photoimmunotherapy. Recently in Nature Communication, Seo, Min, Kwon, and co-workers reported an amphiphilic photocatalyst that induces non-canonical pyroptosis through the oxidative photocatalysis of water molecules into highly reactive hydroxyl radicals, triggering intracellular membrane-focused oxidative stress, a maladaptive unfolded protein response, and cation mobilization. This elegant work represents a new strategy for elucidating the cellular response to intracellular membrane oxidation.