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Remote control of the therapeutic process is an ideal strategy for maximizing efficacy and avoiding side effects, especially for cancer immunotherapy. Herein, a conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPNs)-mediated optogenetic system for in situ activation of immunotherapy under near-infrared laser irradiation is reported. This system is composed of photothermal CPNs and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) plasmid driven by heat shock promoter HSP70. The photothermally responsive CPNs serve as a photo-heat nanotransducer to trigger the gene transcription of IFN-γ cytokine. The secreted IFN-γ from cancer cells can sufficiently elicit surrounding tumor-associated macrophages activation through IFN-γ-JAK-STAT1 transcription-factor signaling pathway and finally induce cancer cell killing by immunotherapy. Therefore, this synergetic optogenetic system provides a promising approach to remotely control the process of cancer immunotherapy.

An oligo(p-phenylene vinylene) derivative (OPV-pfp) functionalized with pentafluorophenol active ester is designed and synthesized. The high reactivity of OPV-pfp with biological small molecules or macromolecules containing amino groups under physiological conditions leads to spectral changes of OPV-pfp; thus, spatial reactivity discrimination for different subcellular structures inside cells is realized by triggering and imaging the fluorescence signal change of the OPV-pfp.

An optical nanoruler system based on a conjugated polyelectrolyte-silver nanoprism pair is developed for label-free protein detection by taking advantage of the metal-enhanced fluorescence effect of silver nanostructures. Antibody-antigen interactions induce a change in the metal-fluorophore distance, followed by the response of a fluorescent signal of the conjugated polyelectrolyte. The system is used to detect target antigens sensitively and selectively.

Using cell-surface modification and biotin-streptavidin interactions, immune cells and target tumor cells are made to form multicellular assemblies. A polythiophene derivative can undergo cellular uptake, allowing the sensitization of oxygen under light irradiation. The subsequent generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) regulates cell-cell communication in time and space.

A novel technique was developed for preparing encoded multicolour microparticles based on the self-assembly of bacteria and conjugated polymer nanoparticles (CPNs) by a very simple and time-saving manner. These bacteria-CPNs microparticles show multicolor emissions by tuning FRET efficiencies among CPNs under single excitation wavelength and can be successfully applied for cell imaging and optical barcoding.