Construction of emissive ruthenium(II) metallacycle over 1000 nm wavelength for in vivo biomedical applications

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 2009
• Main Authors: Xu, Yuling, Li, Chonglu, Lu, Shuai, Wang, Zhizheng, Liu, Shuang, Yu, Xiujun, Li, Xiaopeng, Sun, Yao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 14-04-2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 140/131; 140/58; 639/301/923/966; 639/638/298/54; 639/638/541; A549 Cells; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Apoptosis; Biomedical materials; Cell cycle; Cisplatin; Cisplatin - pharmacology; Design; Emissions; Excitation; Fluorescence; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Light therapy; Mitochondria; multidisciplinary; Organometallic compounds; Phototherapy; Platinum; Ruthenium; Ruthenium compounds; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Side effects; Tumor cell lines; Tumors; Wavelength; Wavelengths
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29572-2

Although Ru(II)-based agents are expected to be promising candidates for substituting Pt-drug, their in vivo biomedical applications are still limited by the short excitation/emission wavelengths and unsatisfactory therapeutic efficiency. Herein, we rationally design a Ru(II) metallacycle with excitation at 808 nm and emission over 1000 nm, namely
Ru1085
, which holds deep optical penetration (up to 6 mm) and enhanced chemo-phototherapy activity. In vitro studies indicate that
Ru1085
exhibits prominent cell uptake and desirable anticancer capability against various cancer cell lines, especially for cisplatin-resistant A549 cells. Further studies reveal
Ru1085
induces mitochondria-mediated apoptosis along with S and G2/M phase cell cycle arrest. Finally,
Ru1085
shows precise NIR-II fluorescence imaging guided and long-term monitored chemo-phototherapy against A549 tumor with minimal side effects. We envision that the design of long-wavelength emissive metallacycle will offer emerging opportunities of metal-based agents for in vivo biomedical applications.
Ruthenium (Ru(II)) compounds are of interest as platinum drug replacements but have suffered from suboptimal therapeutic efficiency. Here, the authors design a Ru(II) metallacycle with NIR excitation and emission wavelengths and demonstrate application for deep tumour imaging and chemo-photo therapy.