Selective Determination of Glutathione Using a Highly Emissive Fluorescent Probe Based on a Pyrrolidine-Fused Chlorin

We report the use of a carboxylated pyrrolidine-fused chlorin (TCPC) as a fluorescent probe for the determination of glutathione (GSH) in 7.4 pH phosphate buffer. TCPC is a very stable, highly emissive molecule that has been easily obtained from meso-tetrakis(4-methoxycarbonylphenyl) porphyrin (TCPP) through a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition approach. First, we describe the coordination of TCPC with Hg(II) ions and the corresponding spectral changes, mainly characterized by a strong quenching of the chlorin emission band. Then, the TCPC-Hg²⁺ complex exhibits a significant fluorescence turn-on in the presence of low concentrations of the target analyte GSH. The efficacy of the sensing molecule was tested by using different TCPC:Hg²⁺ concentration ratios (1:2, 1:5 and 1:10) that gave rise to sigmoidal response curves in all cases with modulating detection limits, being the lowest 40 nM. The experiments were carried out under physiological conditions and the selectivity of the system was demonstrated against a number of potential interferents, including cysteine. Furthermore, the TCPC macrocycle did not showed a significant fluorescent quenching in the presence of other metal ions.

Second harmonic generation nanoparticles enables Near-Infrared Photodynamic Therapy from visible light reactive photosensitizer conjugates

Combination of photosensitizers (PS) with nanotechnology can improve the therapeutic efficiency of clinical Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) by converting visible light reactive PSs into Near-Infrared (NIR) light responsive molecules using Harmonic Nanoparticles (HNP). To test the PDT efficiency of HNP-PS conjugates, pathogenic S. aureus cell cultures were treated with perovskite (Barium Titanate) Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) nanoparticles conjugated to photosensitizers (PS) (we compared both FDA approved Protoporphyrin IX and Curcumin) and subjected to a femtosecond pulsed Near-Infrared (NIR) laser (800 nm, 232-228 mW, 12-15 fs pulse width at repetition rate of 76.9 MHz) for 10 minutes each. NIR PDT using Barium Titanate (BT) conjugated with Protoporphyrin IX as HNP-PS conjugate reduced the viability of S. aureus cells by 77.3 ± 9.7% while BT conjugated with Curcumin did not elicit any significant effect. Conventional PSs reactive only to visible spectrum light coupled with SHG nanoparticles enables the use of higher tissue penetrating NIR light to generate an efficient photodynamic effect, thereby overcoming low light penetration and tissue specificity of conventional visible light PDT treatments.

Higher pulse frequency of near-infrared laser irradiation increases penetration depth for novel biomedical applications

BACKGROUND

The clinical efficiency of laser treatments is limited by the low penetration of visible light used in certain procedures like photodynamic therapy (PDT). Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) PDT is an innovative technique to overcome this limitation that enables the use of Near Infrared (NIR) light instead of visible light. NIR frequency bands present an optical window for deeper penetration into biological tissue. In this research, we compare the penetration depths of 405 and 808 nm continuous wave (CW) lasers and 808 nm pulsed wave (PW) laser in two different modes (high and low frequency).

METHODS

Increasing thicknesses of beef and chicken tissue samples were irradiated under CW and PW lasers to determine penetration depths.

RESULTS

The 808 nm CW laser penetrates 2.3 and 2.4 times deeper than the 405 nm CW laser in beef and chicken samples, respectively. 808 nm PW (pulse frequency-500 Hz) penetrates deeper than CW laser at the same wavelength. Further, increasing the pulse frequency achieves higher penetration depths. High frequency 808 nm PW (pulse frequency-71.4 MHz) penetrates 7.4- and 6.0-times deeper than 405 nm CW laser in chicken and beef, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The results demonstrate the higher penetration depths of high frequency PW laser compared to low frequency PW laser, CW laser of the same wavelength and CW laser with half the wavelength. The results indicate that integrating SHG in the PDT process along with pulsed NIR light may allow the treatment of 6-7 times bigger tumours than conventional PDT using blue light.

A water soluble carbazolyl-BODIPY photosensitizer with an orthogonal D-A structure for photodynamic therapy in living cells and zebrafish

A novel photosensitizer carbazolyl-BODIPY (Cz-BODIPY) with an orthogonal donor-acceptor structure was developed for photodynamic therapy (PDT). The photosensitizer Cz-BODIPY showed strong singlet oxygen sensitizing capability (ΦΔ = 0.68 in MeOH), excellent water solubility in dilute solution, and high photostability. The photosensitizer Cz-BODIPY exhibited negligible dark cytotoxicity and high phototoxicity (IC50 0.45 μM). Cz-BODIPY could induce cell apoptosis upon light illumination. Three cell states including living cells, apoptotic cells, and dead cells in the PDT process of Cz-BODIPY were determined via the Hoechst 33342/PI dual staining assays. The ROS (reactive oxygen species) generation in living cells during the PDT process of Cz-BODIPY was captured by the ROS detector, dihydroethidium (DHE). The photosensitizer Cz-BODIPY could be assimilated by zebrafish to generate ROS and diminish the integrity of zebrafish tissue upon light illumination. Tumor cell growth could be inhibited by Cz-BODIPY upon light illumination. The photosensitizer Cz-BODIPY displayed potential in real PDT application.

Optical Properties of Methyl Orange-Doped Droplet and Photodynamic Therapy of Staphylococcus aureus

Dye-doped droplets are known as mixtures of dyes with uniform solutions of water droplets in a continuous phase of oils with surfactants. To observe the relationship between water droplet structures and surfactant types on optical properties of dyes, a mixture of methyl orange (MO)-doped droplet prepared with benzane and hexane as oils and sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) as a surfactant was thus examined using Z-scan instrument, spectrophotometer, and fluorimeter in the present study. The findings revealed that nonlinear refractive (NLR) index, nonlinear absorption (NLA) coefficient, as well as fluorescence intensity of the MO had enhanced following a reduction in the droplet water content induced by changes in the non-centrosymmetric charge density distribution of this pH indicator. Moreover, the MO-doped droplet in a continuous phase of benzene investigated by ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy indicated that the MO had been located in the droplet in the vicinity of the hydrophilic part of the surfactant. Furthermore, the MO-doped droplets along with laser radiation were employed to perform antibacterial photodynamic therapy (APDT) of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). It was ultimately concluded that the bacteria colony had also extremely diminished in the group treated by the MO-doped droplet.

SHG-enhanced NIR-excited in vitro photodynamic therapy using composite nanoparticles of barium titanate and rose Bengal

Near infrared (NIR) light excited photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been considered as a possible way to increase the therapy depth. Besides the traditional two-photon excited PDT and upconversion PDT by rare-earth ion materials, SHG has drawn much attention recently to act as an additional choice to achieve NIR light excited PDT. Herein, by using the electrostatic absorption method, barium titanate and rose Bengal composite nanoparticles (BT@PAH/RB/PAH, BT–RB) were synthesized. Compared with rose Bengal (RB) molecules and a mixture of barium titanate nanoparticles and RB (BT + RB), BT–RB nanoparticles were shown to be able to produce more reactive oxygen species (ROS) ex vivo and in vitro. Afterwards, the SHG-enhanced localized PDT was applied on Hela cells, in which BT–RB nanoparticles showed a better performance than BT + RB. Our work has shown that the SHG-enhanced PDT has good prospects and the close combination of harmonic nanoparticles and photosensitizers may facilitate the development of novel reagents for NIR light excited PDT.

Composite nanoparticles of barium titanate and rose Bengal are used to achieve second harmonic generation (SHG) enhanced photodynamic therapy excited by near infrared (NIR) light.