Volume 134, Issue 46 e202212671
Zuschrift

A Water-Stable and Red-Emissive Radical Cation for Mutp53 Cancer Therapy

Zikai Zhou

Zikai Zhou

National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Guangdong Province, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Materials and Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Innovation Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Jieying Qian

Jieying Qian

National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Guangdong Province, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Materials and Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Innovation Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006 China

These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Kai Liu

Corresponding Author

Kai Liu

Institute of Marine Drugs, Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanning, 530200 China

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Prof. Dr. Yunjiao Zhang

Corresponding Author

Prof. Dr. Yunjiao Zhang

National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Guangdong Province, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Materials and Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Innovation Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006 China

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Prof. Dr. Meng Gao

Corresponding Author

Prof. Dr. Meng Gao

National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering of Guangdong Province, Key Laboratory of Biomedical Materials and Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Innovation Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction, School of Biomedical Science and Engineering, School of Medicine, School of Materials Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006 China

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Prof. Dr. Ben Zhong Tang

Corresponding Author

Prof. Dr. Ben Zhong Tang

School of Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Institute of Aggregate Science and Technology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518172 China

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First published: 23 September 2022

Abstract

Compared with conventional closed-shell fluorophores, radical cations provide an opportunity for development of red-to-NIR fluorophores with small sizes and easy preparation. However, most radical cations reported in the literature suffer from poor stability in water solution and are almost non-emissive. To tackle this challenge, we herein develop a deep-red-emissive and water-stable pyrrole radical cation P⋅+−DPA−Zn, which can be easily generated from P−DPA−Zn by air oxidation. The deep-red-emissive P⋅+−DPA−Zn can be used for imaging-guided mitochondria-targeted delivery of Zn2+ into cancer cells to promote mutant p53 proteins degradation and abrogate mutp53-manifested gain of function, including reduced chemotherapy resistance, inhibited cancer cell migration, decreased tumor cell colony and sphere formation. The water-stable and deep-red emissive pyrrole radical cation is thus promising for cancer theranostic applications.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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