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Water‐Soluble Conjugated Polymers for Simultaneous Two‐Photon Cell Imaging and Two‐Photon Photodynamic Therapy
Author(s) -
Shen Xiaoqin,
Li Lin,
Min Chan Agnes Chow,
Gao Nengyue,
Yao Shao Q.,
Xu QingHua
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
advanced optical materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.89
H-Index - 91
ISSN - 2195-1071
DOI - 10.1002/adom.201200026
Subject(s) - photodynamic therapy , two photon excitation microscopy , materials science , two photon absorption , singlet oxygen , absorption (acoustics) , photochemistry , photon , fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy , conjugated system , absorption cross section , fluorescence , optoelectronics , chemistry , polymer , optics , laser , physics , oxygen , cross section (physics) , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , composite material
Conventional photosensitizers generally suffer from low efficiency in novel non‐invasive two‐photon photodynamic cancer therapy due to their small two‐photon absorption cross section and they lack an imaging capability for therapy guiding due to their low fluorescence yield. Demonstrated here is the first water‐soluble conjugated polymers as direct two‐photon photosensitizers with dual capability of two‐photon cell imaging and two‐photon photodynamic therapy. By introducing a strong electron‐withdrawing cyano group into the phenyl ring of the backbone, the cyano‐substituted poly(fluorene‐2,7‐ylenevinylene‐ co ‐phenylene) (PFVCN) displays a 2.4 times higher maximum two‐photon absorption cross section per repeat unit and significantly higher fluorescence quantum yield in water than the unsubstituted PFV. The large two‐photon absorption cross section of PFVCN allows it to efficiently generate singlet oxygen under two‐photon excitation, which is critical for two‐photon photodynamic therapy. Two‐photon excitation cell imaging and efficient two‐photon‐induced photodynamic therapy effect on cancer cells of PFVCN are successfully demonstrated. These studies provide insight in designing novel photosensitizing agents for simultaneous two‐photon imaging and two‐photon photodynamic therapy, which allows two‐photon imaging guided therapy to fully take the unique advantages of two‐photon excitation such as deep penetration and 3D selectivity.