Issue 17, 2020

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based drug delivery systems for enhanced photodynamic therapy

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has received increasing attention in disease treatment due to its minimally-invasive, selective destruction with a combination of a photosensitizer (PS), light, and oxygen. However, the limited cytotoxic singlet oxygen (1O2) generation and thin tissue penetrability have been two major barriers in conventional PDT, hindering its further development and clinical use. Recently, fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based drug delivery systems (FRET-DDSs), indirectly activating PS drugs by a donor fluorophore, have been successfully applied to alleviate these issues. The transfer of excitation energy from donors to PS drugs can significantly boost its light harvesting and extend the field of the light source, which dramatically improves its production efficiency of 1O2, thus leading to highly efficient and deep-tissue-penetrable PDT for the treatment of bacteria, cancer and other diseases. In this Review, we give the first-known overview of recent advances in FRET-DDSs for enhanced PDT. In particular, dependent on the excitation energy mechanism in the FRET process, six major types of FRET-DDSs, including one-photon, two-photon, upconversion, auto-fluorescence, X-ray, and Cerenkov excited FRET-DDSs, in PDT applications are summarized in detail. Furthermore, future research directions and perspectives in this emerging field are also discussed.

Graphical abstract: Fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based drug delivery systems for enhanced photodynamic therapy

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
29 Jan 2020
Accepted
28 Feb 2020
First published
29 Feb 2020

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2020,8, 3772-3788

Fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based drug delivery systems for enhanced photodynamic therapy

Y. Huang, F. Qiu, R. Chen, D. Yan and X. Zhu, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2020, 8, 3772 DOI: 10.1039/D0TB00262C

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements