A Biocompatible “Three-pronged” Photo-responsive Chloride Transporter

Abstract

Photo-switchable artificial ion transporters have attracted significant attention in recent years due to their potential for precise temporal and spatial regulation of ion transmembrane transport. Herein we present a photo-responsive chloride ion transporter (E)-1a, which was composed of “three-pronged” thiourea arms with light-sensitive azobenzene moieties. The thiourea groups were served as the anion binding site. The results showed that (E)-1a possesses excellent photo-responsive performance and chloride ion transport capacity. While this transporter exhibits robust light-controlled transport activity in simplified artificial membrane models and favourable biocompatibility in mammalian cells, no detectable chloride flux is observed in living-cell systems, revealing the pronounced influence of native membrane constituents on transmembrane transport behaviour. This work establishes a distinctive photoregulation strategy for anion transport, offering fundamental insights for the rational design and further optimization of high-performance photoswitchable transporters toward biological and therapeutic applications.

Keywords

Chloride transporter / Azobenzene / Photo-responsive / Thiourea / Hydrogen bonding

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