Cucurbit[8]uril Regulated Activatable Supramolecular Photosensitizer for Targeted Cancer Imaging and Photodynamic Therapy

Activatable photosensitizers (aPSs) have emerged as promising photodynamic therapy (PDT) agents for simultaneous imaging and selective ablation of cancer. However, traditional synthetic aPSs are limited by complex design and tedious synthesis. Here, aPS regulated by cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) for targeted cancer imaging and PDT is reported. This system is based on the host-guest interaction between biotinylated toluidine blue (TB-B) and CB[8] to form 2TB-B@CB[8]. Moreover, a facile strategy to turn off/on the fluorescence and photodynamic activity of TB-B is developed through the reversible assembly/disassembly of 2TB-B@CB[8]. This established system can achieve selective accumulation in tumor, light-up cancer imaging, and enhanced anticancer behavior. Therefore, this work provides a novel and promising strategy for the aPS build via simple and facile regulation of supramolecular chemistry.