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. 2020 Sep 11;10(9):1816. doi: 10.3390/nano10091816

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© 2020 by the authors.

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Schematic illustration of the PCI process by using upconverted nanoparticles (UCNPs). UCNPs and photosensitizers (PS) are endocytosed by the cell and colocalized with endosomal vesicles. PS intercalate within endosomal membranes due to their amphiphilic properties. After NIR irradiation, sensitizer ions (S) absorb the energy and transfer it to activator ions (A) capable of emitting radiation (UV or Vis). PS then absorb the energy and transfer it to molecular oxygen, thereby generating highly toxic singlet oxygen. These molecules cause important oxidative damage in the endocytic membranes, which ultimately leads to endosomal escape by their disruption. ET: energy transfer, H: host matrix (Created with BioRender.com)