Photophysical behavior and photodynamic therapy activity of conjugates of zinc monocarboxyphenoxy phthalocyanine with human serum albumin and chitosan

The photodynamic activity properties of a series of structurally analogous tetraarylporphyrin, chlorin and N-confused porphyrin dyes and their Sn(IV) complexes

A series of tetraarylporphyrin, -chlorin and N-confused porphyrin dyes with 4‑methoxy‑meso-aryl rings (1-Por, 1-Chl and 1-NCP) and their Sn(IV) complexes (1-SnPor, 1-SnChl and 1-SnNCP) have been synthesized and characterized. The heavy atom effect of the Sn(IV) ion results in relatively high singlet oxygen quantum yield values of 0.67, 0.71 and 0.85 for 1-SnPor, 1-SnChl and 1-SnNCP, respectively. The photodynamic activities of 1-Por, 1-Chl, 1-NCP, 1-SnPor, 1-SnChl and 1-SnNCP were determined against MCF-7 breast cancer cells through illumination with Thorlabs 625 or 660 nm (240 or 280 mW.cm-2) light emitting diodes (LEDs) for 20 min. The IC50 values for 1-SnChl and 1-SnNCP lie between 1.4 - 6.1 and 1.6 - 4.8 µM upon photoirradiation with the 660 and 625 nm LEDs, respectively, while higher values of >10 µM were obtained for 1-SnPor and the free base dyes. In a similar manner, 1-SnChl and 1-SnNCP were found to also have significantly higher photodynamic antimicrobial activity against planktonic Gram-(+) Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-(-) Escherichia coli bacteria than the other dyes studied. Upon illumination with Thorlabs 625 and 660 nm LEDs for 75 min, Log10 reduction values of 7.62 and > 2.40-3.69 were obtained with 1 and 5 µM solutions, respectively.

The Photodynamic Anticancer and Antibacterial Activity Properties of a Series of meso-Tetraarylchlorin Dyes and Their Sn(IV) Complexes

A series of tetraarylchlorins with 3-methoxy-, 4-hydroxy- and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl meso-aryl rings (1-3-Chl) and their Sn(IV) complexes (1-3-SnChl) were synthesized and characterized so that their potential utility as photosensitizer dyes for use in photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) can be assessed. The photophysicochemical properties of the dyes were assessed prior to in vitro PDT activity studies against MCF-7 breast cancer cells through irradiation with Thorlabs 625 or 660 nm LED for 20 min (240 or 280 mW·cm^-2). PACT activity studies were performed against both planktonic bacteria and biofilms of Gram-(+) S. aureus and Gram-(-) E. coli upon irradiation with Thorlabs 625 and 660 nm LEDs for 75 min. The heavy atom effect of the Sn(IV) ion results in relatively high singlet oxygen quantum yield values of 0.69-0.71 for 1-3-SnChl. Relatively low IC₅₀ values between 1.1-4.1 and 3.8-9.4 µM were obtained for the 1-3-SnChl series with the Thorlabs 660 and 625 nm LEDs, respectively, during the PDT activity studies. 1-3-SnChl were also found to exhibit significant PACT activity against planktonic S. aureus and E. coli with Log₁₀ reduction values of 7.65 and >3.0, respectively. The results demonstrate that the Sn(IV) complexes of tetraarylchlorins merit further in depth study as photosensitizers in biomedical applications.

Antibiotics-Free Compounds for Chronic Wound Healing

The rapid rise in the health burden associated with chronic wounds is of great concern to policymakers, academia, and industry. This could be attributed to the devastating implications of this condition, and specifically, chronic wounds which have been linked to invasive microbial infections affecting patients' quality of life. Unfortunately, antibiotics are not always helpful due to their poor penetration of bacterial biofilms and the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. Hence, there is an urgent need to explore antibiotics-free compounds/formulations with proven or potential antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and wound healing efficacy. The mechanism of antibiotics-free compounds is thought to include the disruption of the bacteria cell structure, preventing cell division, membrane porins, motility, and the formation of a biofilm. Furthermore, some of these compounds foster tissue regeneration by modulating growth factor expression. In this review article, the focus is placed on a number of non-antibiotic compounds possessing some of the aforementioned pharmacological and physiological activities. Specific interest is given to Aloevera, curcumin, cinnamaldehyde, polyhexanide, retinoids, ascorbate, tocochromanols, and chitosan. These compounds (when alone or in formulation with other biologically active molecules) could be a dependable alternative in the management or prevention of chronic wounds.

Chitosan: A versatile bio-platform for breast cancer theranostics

Breast cancer is considered one of the utmost neoplastic diseases globally, with a high death rate of patients. Over the last decades, many approaches have been studied to early diagnose and treat it, such as chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy, and MRI and biomarker tests; do not show the optimal efficacy. These existing approaches are accompanied by severe side effects, thus recognizing these challenges, a great effort has been done to find out the new remedies for breast cancer. Main finding: Nanotechnology opened a new horizon to the treatment of breast cancer. Many nanoparticulate platforms for the diagnosis of involved biomarkers and delivering antineoplastic drugs are under either clinical trials or just approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is well known that natural phytochemicals are successfully useful to treat breast cancer because these natural compounds are safer, available, cheaper, and have less toxic effects. Chitosan is a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer. Further, it has outstanding features, like chemical functional groups that can easily modify our interest with an exceptional choice of promising applications. Abundant studies were directed to assess the chitosan derivative-based nanoformulation's abilities in delivering varieties of drugs. However, the role of chitosan in diagnostics and theranostics not be obligated. The present servey will discuss the application of chitosan as an anticancer drug carrier such as tamoxifen, doxorubicin, paclitaxel, docetaxel, etc. and also, its role as a theranostics (i.e. photo-responsive and thermo-responsive) moieties. The therapeutic and theranostic potential of chitosan in cancer is promising and it seems that to have a good potential to get to the clinic.

Phthalocyanine-Conjugated Glyconanoparticles for Chemo-photodynamic Combination Therapy

Combination cancer therapy based on multifunctional nanomaterials has attracted great attention. The present work focuses on the preparation of the glycopolymeric nanoparticle, which contains a photosensitizer (zinc(II)phthalocyanine, ZnPc) and an anticancer drug (Doxorubicin, Dox). First, a novel mono azide-functional ZnPc-N₃ with seven hydrophilic ethylene oxide chains was synthesized. Next, ZnPc alone or together with Dox bearing glycopolymers was synthesized via the RAFT polymerization method and then self-assembled into glyconanoparticles (GNPs) with narrow particle size distribution. Then the evaluation of the biological activity of GNPs (GNPs-ZnPc and GNPs-ZnPc/Dox) for dual photodynamic therapy (PDT) and chemotherapy against human breast cancer cells was investigated. The constructed GNPs were identified via general characterization methods, including dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The prepared GNPs-ZnPc/Dox demonstrated remarkable photophysical and photochemical properties, involving good colloidal stability in biological conditions, pH-responsive drug release, and the capacity to generate singlet oxygen under light irradiation. The outer layer of nanoparticles covered by fructose sugar moieties achieves a targeted cancer therapy owing to GLUT5 (a well-known fructose transporter) overexpression toward breast cancer cells. In vitro experiments were then performed to evaluate the chemo/phototoxicity, cellular uptake, and anticancer efficacy of GNPs-ZnPc/Dox. In comparison with free Dox, human breast cancer cells treated with GNPs-ZnPc/Dox exhibited a higher cellular internalization via GLUT5 targeting. In particular, the GNPs-ZnPc/Dox nanoplatform revealed an excellent synergistic anticancer activity in comparison with free ZnPc-N₃ and free Dox, representing a novel and promising chemo-photodynamic combination therapeutic methodology to improve therapeutic efficacy.

New GSH-responsive amphiphilic zinc(II) phthalocyanine micelles as efficient drug carriers for combinatorial cancer therapy

Combination therapies for the treatment of cancer have attracted wide attention. The poor selectivity and biocompatibility of photosensitizers (PS) limit the use of combination therapies in chemotherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer. In this work, the Gender PS (mPEG-[Formula: see text]-PLA-S-S-ZnPC), asymmetric zinc(II) phthalocyanine (ZnPC) and mono-methoxy oxygen-based polyethylene glycol-polylactic acid (mPEG-b-PLA) were designed and synthesized for PDT through disulfide bond (-S-S-). The amphipathic PS could be self-assembled into a micelle in aqueous solution, and paclitaxel (PTX) was encapsulated in the core of the micelle for chemotherapy (PTX/mPEG-[Formula: see text]-PLA-S-S-ZnPc). The PTX/mPEG-[Formula: see text]-PLA-S-S-ZnPc micelle was spherical with a uniform diameter of about 184 nm. At the first 48 h, the release behaviors of ZnPC and PTX at 10 mmol / L GSH were 30% and 75.2%, respectively. These results suggested that GSH-responsive PTX/mPEG-[Formula: see text]-PLA-S-S-ZnPc micelle was an active ingredient in combination therapies for cancer.

Cobalt-Tetraamide-Phthalocyanine Immobilized on Fe3O4/Chitosan Microspheres as an Efficient Catalyst for Baeyer-Villiger Oxidation

Cobalt-Tetraamide-Phthalocyanine (CoTaPc) immobilized onto magnetic Fe₃O₄ chitosan microspheres (Fe₃O₄/CTO) was synthesized via a simple immersion method, which is an efficient catalyst for the oxidation of cyclic ketones to lactones with O₂/benzaldehyde as the oxidant. The CoTaPc-Fe₃O₄/CTO catalyst was applied for the first time in the Baeyer-Villiger (B-V) oxidation reaction. Characterization results obtained from X-ray diffraction, UV-vis, Fourier transform infrared, and scanning electron microscopy showed that the combination of CoTaPc and magnetic Fe₃O₄/CTO microspheres was achieved. The catalyst could be easily separated from the reaction system with an external magnet and reused several times without the remarkable loss of activity. In addition, a possible radical mechanism for the B-V oxidation in this catalytic system is proposed and verified by controlled experiments.

Conjugate of chitosan nanoparticles with chloroaluminium phthalocyanine: Synthesis, characterization and photoinactivation of Streptococcus mutans biofilm

BACKGROUND

Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) using chloroaluminium phthalocyanine (ClAlPc) has high oxidative power allowing for the control of biofilms, especially when the photosensitizer is administered in an appropriate release vehicle. This study aimed to develop/characterize the ClAlPc encapsulated in chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs), and evaluate its antimicrobial properties against S. mutans biofilms.

METHODS

CSNPs were prepared by ion gelation, and characterization studies included particle size, polydispersion index (IPd), zeta potential, accelerated stability, absorption spectrum and ClAlPc quantification. The S. mutans biofilms were formed in bovine dentin blocks at 37 °C for 48 h under microaerophilic conditions. 8 μM ClAlPc was combined with a diode laser (InGaAlP) at 660 nm and 100 J/cm². The aPDT toxicity was verified by dark phototoxicity. The antimicrobial activity was verified by CFU/mL and biofilm was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The number of viable bacteria was analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey HSD tests (α = 0.05).

RESULTS

The characterization revealed that the ClAlPc nanoparticles were found in nanometer-scale with adequate photophysical and photochemical properties. The aPDT mediated by ClAlPc + CSNPs nanoconjugate showed a significant reduction in the viability of S. mutans (1log10 CFU/mL) compared to the negative control (PBS, p < 0.05). The aPDT mediated by ClAlPc was similar to PBS (p > 0.05). SEM revealed change in biofilm morphology following the treatment of bacteria with aPDT ClAlPc + CSNPs. Cells were arranged as single or in shorted chains. Irregular shapes of S. mutans were found.

CONCLUSION

ClAlPc nanoparticles are considered stable and aPDT mediated by ClAlPc + CSNPs nanoconjugate was effective against S. mutans biofilm.

Thermochemical research of chitosan complexes with sulfonated metallophthalocyanines

The complexation processes of chitosan with cobalt(II)tetrasulfophthalocyanine (CoPc) and copper(II)tetrasulfophthalocyanine (CuPc) were studied calorimetrically in solution. It was established that CoPc forms two types of complexes with chitosan, while CuPc forms a single type of complex with chitosan, in which copper(II)tetrasulfophthalocyanine is in dimerized form. The complexes are thermodynamically stable, which was allowed to study them in a solid form by different methods. Joint application of DSC and TG/DTG methods allowed us to identify the temperature intervals for evaporation of physically and chemically bounded water and thermal decomposition of chitosan and its complexes. The glass transition temperature of chitosan (110.8 °C) is greater than the glass transition temperature of the complexes with CuPc (74.7 °C) and CoPc (71.2 °C). Using SEM images and X-ray data of heated, unheated chitosan and its complexes, it was shown that the complexes are predominantly amorphous. Heating of chitosan and its leads to increasing of amorphous phase. Modification of chitosan by phthalocyanines leads to decreasing of thermal stability of complexes insignificantly.

Photophysicochemical properties and photodynamic therapy activity of chloroindium(III) tetraarylporphyrins and their gold nanoparticle conjugates

Novel chloroindium(III) complexes of tetra(4-methylthiophenyl)porphyrin (2a) and tetra-2-thienylporphyrin (2b) dyes have been synthesized and characterized. The main goal of the project was to identify fully symmetric porphyrin dyes with Q-band regions that lie partially in the therapeutic window that are suitable for use in photodynamic therapy (PDT). 2a and 2b were found to have fluorescence quantum yield values [Formula: see text] 0.01 and moderately high singlet oxygen quantum yields (0.54−0.73) due to heavy atom effects associated with the sulfur and indium atoms. The dark toxicity and PDT activity against epithelial breast cancer cells (MCF-7) were investigated over a dose range of 3.0−40 [Formula: see text]g [Formula: see text] mL[Formula: see text]. The in vitro dark cytotoxicity of 2a is significantly lower than that of 2b at [Formula: see text] 40 [Formula: see text]g [Formula: see text] mL[Formula: see text]. 2a was conjugated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) to form a nanoconjugate (2a-AuNPs), which exhibited a higher singlet oxygen quantum yield ([Formula: see text] value and PDT activity than was observed for 2a alone. The results suggest that the AuNPs nanoconjugates of readily synthesized fully symmetric porphyrin dyes are potentially suitable for PDT applications, if meso-aryl substituents that provide scope for nanoparticle conjugation can be introduced that shift the Q bands into the therapeutic window.

Insights into the binding mechanism of BODIPY-based photosensitizers to human serum albumin: A combined experimental and computational study

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a noninvasive and effective approach in clinical cancer treatments. Boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY)-based derivatives have emerged as novel and promising photosensitizers (PSs) in PDT, attributed to their strong near-infrared singlet oxygen luminescence emissions and high photostabilities. However, the binding mechanism of BODIPY derivatives to proteins, key for their therapeutic and biomedical applications is still poorly understood. Here, we investigated the molecular interactions of two 2, 6-diiodo-BODIPY derivatives with human serum albumin (HSA) using combined experimental and computational techniques. Our spectroscopic results showed that both BODIPY derivatives formed stable complexes with HSA. Strikingly, the BODIPY/HSA complexes exhibited notably enhanced water solubility and singlet oxygen generation efficiency with respect to the BODIPY alone. Furthermore, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and binding free energy calculations provided the structural and energetic insights into the binding mechanism of BODIPY-based derivatives to HSA. Our work demonstrated that conjugation of BODIPYs with HSA may be a promising strategy to enhance the performance of BODIPY-based PSs, and the combination of computational and experimental techniques is expected to play key roles in the design and development of novel PSs with improved bioavailability and biocompatibility for cancer therapeutic applications.

A gold–chitosan composite with low symmetry zinc phthalocyanine for enhanced singlet oxygen generation and improved photodynamic therapy activity

A gold–chitosan composite with low symmetry zinc phthalocyanine showed no dark cytotoxicity activity and improved photodynamic therapy compared to that of the phthalocyanine alone.