Light driven disulfide polymerization with aggregation induced emission property inside mitochondria

Abstract

In biological systems, many chemical reactions are performed out of the equilibrium state via energy dissipative system that consume chemical fuels continuously. The dissipative system is distinguished feature far from conventional chemical system; thus, it is obstacle to develop artificial chemical system that operate inside cells. In this study, we developed light driven self-catalyzing polymerization for enhancing intramitochondrial polymerization. It showed that disulfide polymerization would be catalyzed by generation of ROS upon irradiation. The polymerization can occur even at low concentration in which it does not occur without light. Furthermore, as the polymerization induced self-assembly increases fluorescence of monomer with AIE property, the polymerization can be monitored in real time. Thus, this light driven self-catalyzing polymerization have a great potential for controlling and detecting intracellular polymerization.