A polymer-based nanodevice for the photoregulated release of NO with two-photon fluorescence reporting in skin carcinoma cells

We have developed a multifunctional biocompatible nanoconstruct based on polymeric nanoparticles encapsulating a molecular conjugate, able to photorelease nitric oxide (NO) with a fluorescent reporting function. We demonstrate that two-photon excitation (TPE) using biofriendly NIR 700 nm laser light can be applied for monitoring as well as triggering the release of NO, wherein the uncaging of a strongly fluorescent co-product acts in turn as a TPE fluorescent reporter for the simultaneous NO release from the nanoassembly. This supramolecular nanodevice internalizes in skin carcinoma cells, induces significant cell death upon light excitation and preserves its TPE properties, allowing the nearly instantaneous quantification of the NO photoreleased in cancer cells by two-photon NIR fluorescence microscopy.