An endoplasmic reticulum-targeted organic photothermal agent for enhanced cancer therapy

Developing selectively targeted photothermal agents to reduce side effects in photothermal therapy remains a great challenge. Inspired by the key role of endoplasmic reticulum in the protein synthesis and intracellular signal transduction, particularly for the immunogenic cell death induced by endoplasmic reticulum stress, we developed an endoplasmic reticulum-targeted organic photothermal agent (Ts-PT-RGD) for enhancing photothermal therapy of tumor. The photothermal agent was covalently attached with 4-methylbenzenesulfonamide and cyclic Arg-Gly-Asp (cRGD) peptide for realizing the targeting of endoplasmic reticulum and tumor cell. Owing to its amphiphilic properties, it readily self-assembles in water to form nanoparticles. The photothermal agent possesses excellent photophysical properties and biological compatibility. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrate that it can actively target endoplasmic reticulum and effectively ablate tumor with near-infrared laser.