Work

Mitochondrial targeting ratiometric theranostic probe activated by hydrogen peroxide toward tracking pH variations in therapeutic processes

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Background At present, cancer remains one of the most devastating health challenges worldwide. Its high mortality rate, metastatic potential, and resistance to conventional treatments make it particularly lethal. Under these circumstances, developing comprehensive theranostic probe that can combine precise tumor detection with efficient treatment has become an urgent priority. Particularly, activatable theranostic probe that can dynamically monitor the changes of cells during the treatment intervention process has become a new research hotspot, bringing hope for more accurate diagnosis and effective treatment. Results In this work, we constructed an activatable theranostic probe RF-HPQ-HP using delocalized lipophilic cations as mitochondrial targeting groups, boric ester (H 2 O 2 recognition group) as a “switch” for diagnosis and treatment of tumor cells, and insoluble group HPQ which can cause cellular oxidative stress as a toxic motif. The probe RF-HPQ-HP can enter tumor cells by targeting mitochondria through mitochondrial membrane potential, and then high H 2 O 2 content will change the fluorescence and simultaneously release insoluble dye RF-HPQ in the cells, thereby triggering subsequent reactions. Cell experiments have shown that the insoluble dye RF-HPQ can not only exploit the selective high toxicity to tumor cells through oxidative stress, but also track pH fluctuations of mitochondrial, meaning that it has the potential to track changes in cell state. Significance This study not only provides a new strategy for the design of activatable theranostic probe with organelle-targeting capabilities, but also establishes a novel method for monitoring dynamic cellular state changes during tumor treatment. The proposed approach shows potential to cancer diagnosis and treatment by enabling simultaneous imaging and therapeutic monitoring.

Source: Analytica Chimica Acta

DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2025.344532

Authors: Yan Zhang, Huifeng Zhang, Jing He, Qiong Jia

Institutions: Jilin University, Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Nanoplatforms for cancer theranostics

Subfield: Biomedical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,270