The Photosensitizing Efficacy of Micelles Containing a Porphyrinic Photosensitizer and KI against Resistant Melanoma Cells.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising alternative to overcome the resistance of melanoma to conventional therapies. Currently applied photosensitizers (PS) are often based on tetrapyrrolic macrocycles like porphyrins. Unfortunately, in some cases the use of this type of derivative is limited due to their poor solubility in the biological environment. Feasible approaches to surpass this drawback are based on lipid formulations. Besides that, and inspired in the efficacy of potassium iodide (KI) for antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT), the combined effect of singlet oxygen (1 O2 ) with KI was assessed in this work, as an alternative strategy to potentiate the effect of PDT against resistant melanoma cells.

Photodynamic treatment of melanoma cells using aza-dipyrromethenes as photosensitizers.

In this study, we report for the first time the use of four aza-dipyrromethenes (ADPMs) as photosensitizers for cancer PDT. The synthesis and characterization of the ADPMs and their photodynamic action against B16F10 melanoma cells were assessed. ADPM 2 is the best singlet oxygen generator and the most phototoxic (at 2.5 µM) towards B16F10 cells.

Efficient photodynamic inactivation of Candida albicans by porphyrin and potassium iodide co-encapsulation in micelles.

Photodynamic inactivation of bacterial and fungal pathogens is a promising alternative to the extensive use of conventional single-target antibiotics and antifungal agents. The combination of photosensitizers and adjuvants can improve the photodynamic inactivation efficiency. In this regard, it has been shown that the use of potassium iodide (KI) as adjuvant increases pathogen killing. Following our interest in this topic, we performed the co-encapsulation of a neutral porphyrin photosensitizer (designated as P1) and KI into micelles and tested the obtained nanoformulations against the human pathogenic fungus Candida albicans. The results of this study showed that the micelles containing P1 and KI displayed a better photodynamic performance towards C. albicans than P1 and KI in solution. It is noteworthy that higher concentrations of KI within the micelles resulted in increased killing of C. albicans. Subcellular localization studies by confocal fluorescence microscopy revealed that P1 was localized in the cell cytoplasm, but not in the nuclei or mitochondria. Overall, our results show that a nanoformulation containing a photosensitizer plus an adjuvant is a promising approach for increasing the efficiency of photodynamic treatment. Actually, the use of this strategy allows a considerable decrease in the amount of both photosensitizer and adjuvant required to achieve pathogen killing.

Porphyrin Macrocycle Modification: Pyrrole Ring-Contracted or -Expanded Porphyrinoids.

In recent years, several synthetic strategies aiming at the peripheral functionalization of porphyrins were developed. Particularly interesting are those involving the modification of ß-pyrrolic positions leading to pyrrole-modified porphyrins containing four-, five-, six- or seven-membered heterocycles. Azeteoporphyrins, porpholactones and morpholinoporphyrins are representative examples of such porphyrinoids. These porphyrin derivatives have recently gained an increasing interest due to their potential application in PDT, as multimodal imaging contrast agents, NIR-absorbing dyes, optical sensors for oxygen, cyanide, hypochlorite and pH, and in catalysis.

Photophysical Characterization and in Vitro Phototoxicity Evaluation of 5,10,15,20-Tetra(quinolin-2-yl)porphyrin as a Potential Sensitizer for Photodynamic Therapy.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a selective and minimally invasive therapeutic approach, involving the combination of a light-sensitive compound, called a photosensitizer (PS), visible light and molecular oxygen. The interaction of these per se harmless agents results in the production of reactive species. This triggers a series of cellular events that culminate in the selective destruction of cancer cells, inside which the photosensitizer preferentially accumulates. The search for ideal PDT photosensitizers has been a very active field of research, with a special focus on porphyrins and porphyrin-related macrocycle molecules. The present study describes the photophysical characterization and in vitro phototoxicity evaluation of 5,10,15,20-tetra(quinolin-2-yl)porphyrin (2-TQP) as a potential PDT photosensitizer. Molar absorption coefficients were determined from the corresponding absorption spectrum, the fluorescence quantum yield was calculated using 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) as a standard and the quantum yield of singlet oxygen generation was determined by direct phosphorescence measurements. Toxicity evaluations (in the presence and absence of irradiation) were performed against HT29 colorectal adenocarcinoma cancer cells. The results from this preliminary study show that the hydrophobic 2-TQP fulfills several critical requirements for a good PDT photosensitizer, namely a high quantum yield of singlet oxygen generation (Φ∆ 0.62), absence of dark toxicity and significant in vitro phototoxicity for concentrations in the micromolar range.

Dependent excited state absorption and dynamic of ß-BF2 substituted metalloporphyrins: The metal ion effect.

Absorption and relaxation dynamics of electronic states of free-base, Co(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) porphyrins bearing a ß-(2,2-difluoro-1,3,2-dioxaborinin-5-yl) group were investigated in dimethyl sulfoxide by using distinct time-resolved spectroscopic techniques. Furthermore, excited state absorption cross-section spectra were determined by combining white light continuum Z-Scan and transient absorption techniques. In the case of the free-base (2H) and Zn(II) porphyrins, we were able to quantify singlet-triplet conversion by analyzing the evolution of time-resolved fluorescence. Relaxation lifetimes from the excited to the ground state were observed in both porphyrins at nanosecond time scale. However, for Co(II) and Cu(II) metalloporphyrins it was observed in the picosecond time scale through femtosecond transient absorption, indicating that both compounds relax back to the ground state only by internal conversion processes. Co(II) and Cu(II) heavy atoms seem to prohibit the radiative and intersystem crossing processes.