Constructionof Selenium-Substituted Flavonoid Dyes and Their Photothermal Properties

Phototherapy has become a research hotspot in cancer treatment due to its advantages of high selectivity and low invasiveness, but the wavelength range and targeting precision of dyes remain key bottlenecks limiting their clinical application. Taking advantage of the heavy-atom effect, this study used flavonoid dyes as the parent structure and developed a novel long-wavelength dye M-Se-F-N through structural modification by replacing oxygen atoms with selenium atoms, providing a new solution for upgrading photothermal therapy technology.The dye adopts a D-π-A conjugated structure, and its maximum absorption wavelength exceeds 800 nm after specific binding to RNA, effectively covering the near-infrared theranostic window. Leveraging the physiological characteristic of high RNA expression in cancer cells, M-Se-F-N can achieve precise enrichment at tumor sites. Under excitation with an 808 nm laser, it rapidly elevates the local temperature to approximately 53 ℃, which falls within the effective therapeutic range, enabling highly selective photothermal ablation of HeLa cells with minimal off-target toxicity.This dye exhibits excellent photothermal stability as well as good biocompatibility. Through structural innovation, this work breaks through the performance limitations of traditional flavonoid dyes and provides new insights for the development of photothermal agents with both targeting capability and high safety, holding promising potential to expand the clinical translation of phototherapy in the precise treatment of hypoxic tumors.