Polymeric amino-single-benzene nano-aggregates (PANA) as a Next-Generation glioblastoma photodynamic therapy

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been highlighted as a promising strategy for tumor treatment, using in situ reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation which is achieved by irradiating a photosensitizer (PS) with a specific wavelength of light. The efficiency of PDT treatment is enhanced by the high intersystem crossing (ISC) process of PS, which promotes the generation of ROS. Herein, we disclosed a next-generation PS based on polymeric amino-single-benzene nano-aggregates (PANA) that show superior PDT efficacy by improving the ISC process. PANA demonstrates numerous advantageous features for practical applications, such as facile one-pot synthesis, high scalability (>10 g), a bright red emission, high physicochemical stability, high biosafety, and high PDT efficacy. In our study, PANA was applied for the glioblastoma (GBM) treatment using PDT, and it showed exceptional GBM homing properties and high therapeutic efficacy in the mouse animal model without any biological toxicity issues.