Cyanine dye mediated mitochondrial targeting enhances the anti-cancer activity of small-molecule cargoes
Alexander R. Nödling, Emily M. Mills, Xuefei Li, Davide Cardella, Edward J. Sayers, Shih‐Hsiung Wu, Arwyn T. Jones, Louis Y. P. Luk, Yu‐Hsuan Tsai
Abstract
Organelle-specific delivery systems are of significant clinical interest. We demonstrate the use of common cyanine dyes Cy3 and Cy5 as vectors for targeting and delivering cargoes to mitochondria in cancer cells. Specifically, conjugation to the dyes can increase cytotoxicity by up to 1000-fold.
Topics & Concepts
CyanineSmall moleculeChemistryOrganelleBiophysicsMoleculeMitochondrionCombinatorial chemistryNanotechnologyCell biologyBiochemistryFluorescenceBiologyMaterials scienceOrganic chemistryPhysicsQuantum mechanicsATP Synthase and ATPases ResearchSupramolecular Chemistry and ComplexesNanoplatforms for cancer theranostics