Endoplasmic reticulum targeted AIE bioprobe as a highly efficient inducer of immunogenic cell death

Focused oxidative stress of the specific organelles(e.g.,endoplasmic reticulum(ER)and mitochondrion)of cancer cells can boost the immunogenic cell death(ICD)effect for cancer immunotherapy.Herein,an ER-targeted bioprobe with aggregationinduced emission(AIE)characteristics(TPE-PR-FFKDEL)was rationally designed and synthesized by integrating a new AIE photosensitizer with ER targeting peptide,which has been demonstrated to be able to efficiently induce ER oxidative stress to evoke ICD.Compared with the photosensitizer hypericin that is well-known as an ER-targeted ICD inducer,TPE-PR-FFKDEL can lead to more robust emission of immunostimulatory damage-associated molecular patterns such as surface-exposed calreticulin,ATP secretion,and high-mobility group protein B1(HMGB1)and heat shock protein 70(HSP 70)expression.Furthermore,a range of immune responses are activated to protect mice from the attack of cancer cells in vivo.