Synthesis of water soluble porphyrin and phthalocyanine derivatives with, respectively, eight and sixteen galactose units has been carried out. The combined preliminary photophysical and photochemical features of the new products suggest that they might be promising photodynamic therapeutic agents.

Photosensitizers (PSs) are of crucial importance in the effectiveness of photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer. Due to their high reactive oxygen species production and strong absorption in the wavelength range between 650 and 850 nm, where tissue light penetration is rather high, phthalocyanines (Pcs) have been studied as PSs of excellence. In this work, we report the evaluation of a phthalocyanine surrounded by a carbohydrate shell of sixteen galactose units distributed in a dendritic manner (PcGal16) as a new and efficient third generation PSs for PDT against two bladder cancer cell lines, HT-1376 and UM-UC-3. Here, we define the role of galacto-dendritic units in promoting the uptake of a Pc through interaction with GLUT1 and galectin-1. The photoactivation of PcGal16 induces cell death by generating oxidative stress. Although PDT with PcGal16 induces an increase on the activity of antioxidant enzymes immediately after PDT, bladder cancer cells are unable to recover from the PDT-induced damage effects for at least 72 h after treatment. PcGal16 co-localization with galectin-1 and GLUT1 and/or generation of oxidative stress after PcGal16 photoactivation induces changes in the levels of these proteins. Knockdown of galectin-1 and GLUT1, via small interfering RNA (siRNA), in bladder cancer cells decreases intracellular uptake and phototoxicity of PcGal16. The results reported herein show PcGal16 as a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of bladder cancer, which is the fifth most common type of cancer with the highest rate of recurrence of any cancer.

The emerging epidemic of drug resistance places the development of efficacious and safe antibiotics in the spotlight of current research. Here, we report the design of next-generation aminoglycosides. Discovery efforts were driven by rational synthesis focusing on 4′ alkylations of the aminoglycoside paromomycin, with the goal to alleviate the most severe and disabling side effect of aminoglycosides—irreversible hearing loss. Compounds were evaluated for target activity in in vitro ribosomal translation assays, antibacterial potency against selected pathogens, cytotoxicity against mammalian cells, and in vivo ototoxicity. The results of this study produced potent compounds with excellent selectivity at the ribosomal target, promising antibacterial activity, and little, if any, ototoxicity upon chronic administration. The favorable biocompatibility profile combined with the promising antibacterial activity emphasizes the potential of next-generation aminoglycosides in the treatment of infectious diseases without the risk of ototoxicity.

Here, we report the rational design of a new third-generation photosensitizer (PS), a chlorin conjugated with galactodendritic units, ChlGal, to improve the effectiveness of bladder cancer treatment. ChlGal shows better photochemical and photophysical properties than a recently reported homologous porphyrin, PorGal. In addition to inheriting excellent photostability, the ability to generate singlet oxygen, and the ability to interact with the proteins galectin-1 and human serum albumin (HSA), ChlGal exhibits high absorption in the red region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In vitro studies of anticancer activity of ChlGal revealed that once this PS is taken up by UM-UC-3 bladder cancer cells, it induces high cytotoxicity after a single dose of light irradiation. In HT-1376 bladder cancer cells resistant to therapy, a second light irradiation treatment enhanced in vitro and in vivo photodynamic efficacy. The enhanced phototoxicity in HT-1376 cancer cells seems to be due to the ability of ChlGal to accumulate in the mitochondria, via facilitative glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), in the period between single and repeated irradiation. A photodynamic therapy (PDT) regimen using an extra dose of light irradiation and ChlGal as PS represents a promising strategy in treating resistant cancers in a clinical setting.

This work employed [5,10,15,20-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin] ([H2(TPPF20)], H2P1) as the platform to prepare a tetrasubstituted galactodendritic conjugate porphyrin (H2P3). After metalation with excess copper(II) acetate, H2P3 afforded a new solid porphyrin material, Cu4CuP3S. This work also assessed the ability of the copper(II) complex (CuP3) of H2P3 to coordinate with zinc(II) acetate, to yield the new material Zn4CuP3S. UV-visible, Fourier transform infrared, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopies aided full characterization of the synthesized solids. (Z)-Cyclooctene epoxidation under heterogeneous conditions helped to evaluate the catalytic activity of Cu4CuP3S and Zn4CuP3S. The efficiency of Cu4CuP3S in the oxidation of another organic substrate, catechol, was also investigated. According to the results obtained in the heterogeneous process, Cu4CuP3S mimicked the activity of cytochrome P-450 and catecholase. In addition, Cu4CuP3S was reusable after recovery and reactivation. The data obtained herein were compared with the results achieved for the copper complex (CuP1) of [H2(TPPF20)] and for CuP3 under homogeneous conditions.