Unsymmetrical ß-cyclodextrin-conjugated silicon(IV) phthalocyanines as highly potent photosensitisers for photodynamic therapy.

A series of unsymmetrical silicon(IV) phthalocyanines with a permethylated ß-cyclodextrin unit and a sugar or a diamino moiety as the axial substituents have been prepared. These compounds are highly photocytotoxic with IC(50) values as low as 21 nM, which is ca. sevenfold lower than those of the symmetrical bis(cyclodextrin) analogue.

Phthalocyanine-polyamine conjugates as pH-controlled photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy.

A series of aryl hydroxyamines prepared by reductive amination were treated with silicon(IV) phthalocyanine dichloride in the presence of pyridine to give the diaxially substituted phthalocyanine-polyamine conjugates 1-5. The electronic absorption, fluorescence emission, and efficiency at generating reactive oxygen species of these compounds were all sensitive to the pH environment. Under acidic conditions, the fluorescence quantum yields and the singlet oxygen quantum yields of these compounds were greatly enhanced in DMF as a result of protonation of the amino moieties, which inhibited the photoinduced electron-transfer deactivation pathway. The Q band was diminished and broadened, and the fluorescence intensity decreased as the pH increased in citrate buffer solutions. The rate of superoxide radical formation was also reduced in a higher pH environment. Compound 3, containing a terminal 4-chlorophenyl group at the axial substituent, showed the most desirable pH-responsive properties, which makes it a promising tumor-selective fluorescence probe and photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy. All of the phthalocyanines 1-5 were highly photocytotoxic against HT29 and HepG2 cells with IC(50) values as low as 0.03 microM. Compound 3 was highly selective toward lysosomes, but not mitochondria of HT29 cells.

Molecular subtyping of Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis in Hong Kong: correlation with epidemiological events from 1994 to 2002.

Two hundred twenty isolates of Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 collected from 1994 to 2002 in Hong Kong were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Chromosomal DNAs from all V. cholerae isolates in agarose plugs were digested with the restriction enzyme NotI, resulting in 20 to 27 bands. Sixty distinctive PFGE patterns in the range of 10 to 300 kb were noted among 213 isolates typeable by PFGE. By comparing the common PFGE patterns obtained from four well-defined outbreaks of V. cholerae O1 and O139 with those obtained from other, epidemiologically unrelated isolates during the study period, indistinguishable and similar PFGE patterns were identified, indicating their close relatedness, in agreement with the results of epidemiological investigations. Heterogeneous PFGE patterns (with four to six banding differences), however, were identified among strains that were imported from other parts of Asia, including Indonesia, India, and Pakistan. Correlations with epidemiological information further support the usefulness of PFGE as an epidemiological tool in laboratory investigations of suspected outbreaks. Standardization of PFGE methodology will allow international comparison of fingerprint patterns and will form the basis of a laboratory network for tracking V. cholerae.