NIR‐Triggered Organic Semiconductor Bulk Heterostructure Nanoparticles Enable Dual‐Mechanism Photodynamic Anti‐tumor Therapy

ABSTRACT Low‐bandgap non‐fullerene acceptors (NFAs) predominantly generate a variety of reactive oxygen species (ROS) via the type‐I photodynamic process, a feature that renders them particularly advantageous for the treatment of hypoxic solid tumors. However, the hypoxic microenvironment typically arises during type‐I PDT can upregulate apoptosis‐suppressing genes and promote immunosuppression, thereby facilitating tumor cell survival, invasion, and metastasis. To address these limitations, we integrated the charge‐transport material PFN‐Br with an NFA (H1) to construct bulk heterostructured nanoparticles (H2 (10:1)@NPs). This structural design not only promoted J‐aggregation of H2‐NPs, but also enhanced their spin‐orbit coupling (SOC) through the external heavy‐atom effect, thereby facilitating efficient intersystem crossing (ISC) from the singlet excited state (S 1 ) to the triplet state (T 1 ). The resulting increase in the T 1 exciton augmented both charge and energy transfer, leading to a marked enhancement in type‐I and type‐II ROS production. Consequently, PFN‐Br as ROS amplifier within the bulk heterostructure, disrupting intracellular redox homeostasis and activating both apoptotic and pyroptotic cell death pathways to achieve pronounced antitumor efficacy. This study offers new strategic insights for advancing high‐performance photocatalytic tumor therapy toward clinical application.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Healthcare Materials
Published
2026-06-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adhm.71356
Primary Topic
Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

NIR‐Triggered Organic Semiconductor Bulk Heterostructure Nanoparticles Enable Dual‐Mechanism Photodynamic Anti‐tumor Therapy

Landi Zeng, Yuchen Yue, Zihan Qiao, Qi Li et al.
Advanced Healthcare Materials
Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics
article

NIR‐Triggered Organic Semiconductor Bulk Heterostructure Nanoparticles Enable Dual‐Mechanism Photodynamic Anti‐tumor Therapy

Landi Zeng, Yuchen Yue, Zihan Qiao, Qi Li, Yongrui He, Shida Ma, Ying-Shuai Wang, Bin Wang, Yaru Wang, Bing Zheng, Ying Huang, Jin Zhou
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Low‐bandgap non‐fullerene acceptors (NFAs) predominantly generate a variety of reactive oxygen species (ROS) via the type‐I photodynamic process, a feature that renders them particularly advantageous for the treatment of hypoxic solid tumors. However, the hypoxic microenvironment typically arises during type‐I PDT can upregulate apoptosis‐suppressing genes and promote immunosuppression, thereby facilitating tumor cell survival, invasion, and metastasis. To address these limitations, we integrated the charge‐transport material PFN‐Br with an NFA (H1) to construct bulk heterostructured nanoparticles (H2 (10:1)@NPs). This structural design not only promoted J‐aggregation of H2‐NPs, but also enhanced their spin‐orbit coupling (SOC) through the external heavy‐atom effect, thereby facilitating efficient intersystem crossing (ISC) from the singlet excited state (S 1 ) to the triplet state (T 1 ). The resulting increase in the T 1 exciton augmented both charge and energy transfer, leading to a marked enhancement in type‐I and type‐II ROS production. Consequently, PFN‐Br as ROS amplifier within the bulk heterostructure, disrupting intracellular redox homeostasis and activating both apoptotic and pyroptotic cell death pathways to achieve pronounced antitumor efficacy. This study offers new strategic insights for advancing high‐performance photocatalytic tumor therapy toward clinical application.

Advanced Healthcare Materials
Weifang Medical University (CN), Jilin University (CN), Second Hospital of Shandong University (CN), Jilin International Studies University (CN)
Taishan Scholar Foundation of Shandong Province, Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province
Openalex Percentile: Top 12%
Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics
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