Figure 6.

(A) Schematic of zinc phthalocyanine photosensitizer delivery to the mitochondria via a mitochondrion-targeted nanoparticle, followed by the local generation of singlet oxygen, leading to the production of tumor antigens and inflammatory cytokines and the eventual activation of dendritic cells, NK cells, and T helper cells. (B) Proposed scheme for the potential utilization of ex-vivo-stimulated DCs for cancer immunotherapy, in which ZnPc is used to stimulate tumor antigen production, which is then used to activate a patient’s dendritic cells outside of the body before they are reintroduced into the body as a cancer therapeutic.