Mild-Sunlight-Activated Safe Photodynamic Therapy Using On-Off Polymer Photosensitizers in Wearable Microneedle Patch

) excitation, and feature an intrinsic "on-off" ROS generation mechanism that confines ROS generation to lesions, even when photosensitizers diffuse into surrounding healthy tissues. Microneedle-enabled deep photosensitizer delivery and excitation by the near-infrared component of sunlight together allow self-administered treatment of deep-seated lesions without scheduled clinic visits. Importantly, the SunPDT patch's triple-safety design, low-intensity mild sunlight excitation, local delivery of photosensitizer by microneedles, and an intrinsic "on-off" ROS generation mechanism, eliminate post-treatment prolonged light avoidance, ensuring bio-safe PDT. Using female psoriatic mice as a proof-of-concept model, our "on-off" SunPDT microneedle patches achieve high therapeutic efficacy and patient-friendly, self-administered treatment, and outperform clinical Protoporphyrin IX patches, which demonstrate weaker effects and require prolonged light shielding. Therefore, this study establishes a promising design for a lifestyle-integrated PDT platform.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2026-05-02
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-72550-1
Primary Topic
Photodynamic Therapy Research Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Mild-Sunlight-Activated Safe Photodynamic Therapy Using On-Off Polymer Photosensitizers in Wearable Microneedle Patch

Chunxu He, Bin Liu, Quli Fan, Zhen Li et al.
Nature Communications
Photodynamic Therapy Research Studies
article

Mild-Sunlight-Activated Safe Photodynamic Therapy Using On-Off Polymer Photosensitizers in Wearable Microneedle Patch

Chunxu He, Bin Liu, Quli Fan, Zhen Li, Yufu Tang
article en

Abstract

) excitation, and feature an intrinsic "on-off" ROS generation mechanism that confines ROS generation to lesions, even when photosensitizers diffuse into surrounding healthy tissues. Microneedle-enabled deep photosensitizer delivery and excitation by the near-infrared component of sunlight together allow self-administered treatment of deep-seated lesions without scheduled clinic visits. Importantly, the SunPDT patch's triple-safety design, low-intensity mild sunlight excitation, local delivery of photosensitizer by microneedles, and an intrinsic "on-off" ROS generation mechanism, eliminate post-treatment prolonged light avoidance, ensuring bio-safe PDT. Using female psoriatic mice as a proof-of-concept model, our "on-off" SunPDT microneedle patches achieve high therapeutic efficacy and patient-friendly, self-administered treatment, and outperform clinical Protoporphyrin IX patches, which demonstrate weaker effects and require prolonged light shielding. Therefore, this study establishes a promising design for a lifestyle-integrated PDT platform.

Nature Communications
National University of Singapore (SG), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Photodynamic Therapy Research Studies
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