A Near-Infrared Emitting Aggregation-Induced Emission Photosensitizer with Endoplasmic Reticulum Targeting Ability for Breast Cancer Photodynamic Therapy

Organelle-specific photosensitizers offer an effective strategy to enhance photodynamic therapy (PDT) by spatially confining reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation to vulnerable intracellular sites; however, most conventional photosensitizers suffer from aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ), limited subcellular targeting precision, and inefficient ROS generation under low-intensity visible or white light irradiation. Herein, we report a naphthalimide-based aggregation-induced emission (AIE) photosensitizer, TPAPV-NIM-TSA, rationally engineered to address these limitations through endoplasmic reticulum (ER) targeting, near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging, and efficient photodynamic tumor ablation. Encapsulation of TPAPV-NIM-TSA within a Pluronic F127 matrix yields stable nanoparticles (TPAPV-NIM-TSA@F127) with improved aqueous dispersibility, biocompatibility, and cellular uptake. The donor-π-acceptor molecular architecture with extended π-conjugation results in broad visible-light absorption and a reduced singlet-triplet energy gap, as supported by density functional theory calculations, enabling efficient intersystem crossing and the simultaneous generation of both type I and type II ROS under low-intensity white light irradiation. TPAPV-NIM-TSA@F127 exhibits pronounced AIE behavior with NIR fluorescence emission, facilitating intracellular imaging while avoiding ACQ. Confocal microscopy and colocalization analyses confirm selective accumulation of TPAPV-NIM-TSA@F127 in the ER, where ER-localized ROS generation leads to effective photodynamic ablation of breast cancer cells with minimal dark toxicity. In vivo evaluation in 4T1 tumor-bearing BALB/c mice demonstrates significant tumor growth inhibition and near-complete tumor eradication under white light irradiation, accompanied by negligible systemic toxicity, minimal hemolysis, and no observable damage to major organs. These results establish TPAPV-NIM-TSA@F127 as a multifunctional ER-targeted AIE photosensitizer that integrates imaging capability, dual ROS generation pathways, and effective in vivo PDT, providing a promising platform for the development of next-generation organelle-targeted phototherapeutic materials.