Conjugated Polymer-Based Nanoparticles for Cancer Cell-Targeted and Image-Guided Photodynamic Therapy

Multifunctional materials with cell imaging and therapeutic functions are anticipated to provide promising agents in cancer treatment. Herein, folic acid modified conjugated polymer nanoparticles (FA-CPNs) are exploited to target cancer cells and destroy the neighboring cancer cells. Folic acid in FA-CPNs enables the strong binding with high affinity to folate receptor, a cancer-cell-associated protein, to target cancer cells. FA-CPNs are able to produce cytotoxic reactive oxygen species upon irradiation 600 nm light, and therefore cause the cell death of folate receptor-overexpressed cancer cells effectively. Therefore, the conjugated polymer-based nanoparticles provide a multifunctional system for targeting cancer cells and photodynamic therapy.