Metalloporphyrins in Medicine: From History to Recent Trends

The history of metalloporphyrins dates back more than 200 years ago. Metalloporphyrins are excellent catalysts, capable of forming supramolecular systems, participate in oxygen photosynthesis, transport, and used as contrast agents or superoxide dismutase mimetics. Today, metalloporphyrins represent complexes of conjugated π-electron system and metals from the entire periodic system. However, the effect of these compounds on living systems has not been fully understood, and researchers are exploring the properties of metalloporphyrins thereby extending their further application. This review provides an overview of the variety of metalloporphyrins that are currently used in different medicine fields and how metalloporphyrins became the subject of scientists' interest. Currently, metalloporphyrins utilization has expanded significantly, which gave us an opprotunuty to summarize recent progress in metalloporphyrins derivatives and prospects of their application in the treatment and diagnosis of different diseases.

Synthesis of a porphyrin with histidine-like chelate: an efficient path towards molecular PDT/SPECT theranostics

The goal of "personalised" medicine has seen a growing interest in the development of theranostic agents. Bifunctional, and targeted-trifunctional, theranostic water-soluble porphyrins with a histidine-like chelating group have been synthesised via copper-catalysed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) "click" chemistry in high yield and purity. They are capable of photodynamic treatment and [99mTc(CO)3]+ complexation for single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging, with a radiochemical yield of >95%. The toxicity and phototoxicity were evaluated on HT-29 cells, DU145, and DU145-PSMA cell lines, with the targeted theranostic showing more potent phototoxicity towards DU145-PSMA expressing cells.

Nuclear medicine for photodynamic therapy in cancer: Planning, monitoring and nuclear PDT

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a modality with promising results for the treatment of various cancers. PDT is increasingly included in the standard of care for different pathologies. This therapy relies on the effects of light delivered to photosensitized cells. At different stages of delivery, PDT requires imaging to plan, evaluate and monitor treatment. The contribution of molecular imaging in this context is important and continues to increase. In this article, we review the contribution of nuclear medicine imaging in oncology to PDT for planning and therapeutic monitoring purposes. Several solutions have been proposed to plan PDT from nuclear medicine imaging. For instance, photosensitizer biodistribution has been evaluated with a radiolabeled photosensitizer or with conventional radiopharmaceuticals on positron emission tomography. The effects of PDT delivery have also been explored with specific SPECT or PET radiopharmaceuticals to evaluate the effects on cells (apoptosis, necrosis, proliferation, metabolism) or vascular damage. Finally, the synergy between photosensitizers and radiopharmaceuticals has been studied considering the Cerenkov effect to activate photosensitized cells.