Abstract
Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has, since its discovery, become a valuable tool in the field of nanoscience. AIEgenic molecules, which display highly stable fluorescence in an assembled state, have applications in various biomedical fields—including photodynamic therapy. Engineering structure-inherent, AIEgenic nanomaterials with motile properties is, however, still an unexplored frontier in the evolution of this potent technology. Here, we present phototactic/phototherapeutic nanomotors where biodegradable block copolymers decorated with AIE motifs can transduce radiant energy into motion and enhance thermophoretic motility driven by an asymmetric Au nanoshell. The hybrid nanomotors can harness two photon near-infrared radiation, triggering autonomous propulsion and simultaneous phototherapeutic generation of reactive oxygen species. The potential of these nanomotors to be applied in photodynamic therapy is demonstrated in vitro, where near-infrared light directed motion and reactive oxygen species induction synergistically enhance efficacy with a high level of spatial control.
Highlights
Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has, since its discovery, become a valuable tool in the field of nanoscience
First-generation AIEgenic molecules have demonstrated potential in photodynamic therapy (PDT), outperforming conventional photo-therapeutics that suffer from low loading/conjugation efficiencies, burst release, aggregationinduced quenching (ACQ), or photo-bleaching behavior[18,19,20]
Having synthesized a range of PEG44-P(AIE)n copolymers, we investigated the effect of molecular composition upon self-assembly using a dropwise solvent switch process from THF to water followed by dialysis purification (Supplementary Fig. 25)[54]
Summary
Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) has, since its discovery, become a valuable tool in the field of nanoscience. Owing to the asymmetric structure of AIE/Au polymersomes, self-propulsion was achieved through light (NIR)-activated plasmonic heating, localized at the Au surface (Fig. 3a). To ensure that bulk photothermal heating (a property synonymous with plasmonic gold particles) was not responsible for the observed behavior, symmetric AIE-polymersomes and Au-coated nanoparticles (160 nm NanoXactTM Gold Nanoshells, nanoComposix) were studied, and only enhanced Brownian diffusion (as opposed to propulsion) was observed under a standard NIR irradiation
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