Mitochondria-targeted nano-AIEgens as a powerful inducer for evoking immunogenic cell death

AIEgens can serve as an effective platform for the construction of photosensitizer-based immunogenic cell death (ICD) inducers. To date, several mitochondria or endoplasmic reticulum (ER) -targeted aggregationinduced emission (AIE) molecules have been developed and have evoked massive ICD in cells. However, due to the complex physicochemical environment in cells, these small AIE molecules cannot maintain a stable aggregate state, which not only affects the fluorescence intensity of the photosensitizer but also decreases the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and thus reducing the effect of the photosensitizer to elicit ICD. AIEgen-based nanomicelles, which maintain a stable micellar structure, can prevent defects of AIE molecules in photodynamic therapy (PDT) applications. Therefore, in this study, a mitochondria -targeted AIE nanophotosensitizer was synthesized and used as a highly potent ICD inducer for vaccine preparation and tumor prevention. (c) 2024 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.