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• Type I (electron transfer) PDT of C60 is significantly enhanced by gold nanoparticles. • C60@GNPs can be excited under near-infrared light, which has a high tissue penetration. • C60@GNPs with near-infrared light irradiation can obtain oxygen non-dependent of PDT. Recently, fullerene (C60) has been widely used as a nano photosensitizer (PS) for tumor related photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, current PDT based on C60 is severely restricted by the visible light source (shallow tissue penetrating depth) and oxygen dependent (tumor hypoxia). Therefore, taking advantages of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and "electronic sponge" property of C60, a C60 based hybrid nanostructured photosensitizer (C60@GNPs) with high light stability, near infrared light (NIR) excitation, and oxygen non-dependent properties was rational designed according to the mechanism of PDT. Compared with C60, after GNPs in-situ synthesis, the PDT mechanism of C60@GNPs changed from type II to type I, and the main product of PDT changed from singlet oxygen to hydroxyl radicals. Furthermore, C60@GNPs hybrid could efficiently generate hydroxyl radicals under NIR light excitation even in the hypoxia condition. These results suggest that C60@GNPs hybrid has a great potential for in vivo PDT applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Mesoporous MnO2 nanoparticle was employed as the carrier and quencher of photosensitizer. • Tumor marker MUC-1 activated ROS generation system was constructed based on the gatekeeper effect of aptamer. • MCF-7 was killed selectively via the tumor cell activated photodynamic therapy. Herein, we report a turn-on strategy for selectively killing the tumor cell via combining the singlet-oxygen quenching MnO 2 and tumor cell-targeting aptamer. The photosensitizers were in the quenching state when loaded in the mesoporous MnO 2 (mMnO 2) nanoparticles and sealed by the aptamer on the particle surface. The aptamer can selectively recognize the specific membrane protein on the tumor cell and release the photosensitizers, activating the photosensitizer and killing the tumor cells. The specific binding-induced "off-on" switching of singlet oxygen generation reduced the damage to the nearby healthy cells to a large extent. The high loading ability for photosensitizer and the GSH consumption property of mMnO 2 endow the system with high local concentration of singlet-oxygen for killing the target tumor cell. The high selectivity and efficiency of the constructed singlet oxygen regulating system will pave a new way for utilizing PDT in cancer precise treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]