Cyanines as efficient photosensitizers in photodynamic reaction: Photophysical properties and in vitro photodynamic activity

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to explore the potential application of cyanines in photodynamic treatment. The photophysical features of four cyanines (KF570, HM118, FBF-749, and ER-139) were investigated by elemental and spectral analyses. Two malignant cell lines (MCF-7/WT and MCF-7/DOX) were used to test the potential for use in the photodynamic therapy. The cytotoxic effects of these dyes were determined by the MTT assay after 4 and 24 h of incubation with the cyanine. KF570 and HM118 were irradiated with red light (630-nm filter) and FBF-749 and ER-139 with green light (435-nm filter). The results showed that the cyanine HM118 demonstrated a major phototoxic effect. It was also noted that the efficiency of photodynamic therapy was higher in the doxorubicin-resistant cell line (MCF-7/DOX).

Nanoemulsion-templated multilayer nanocapsules for cyanine-type photosensitizer delivery to human breast carcinoma cells

“…As it has been proved in our previous study (Kulbacka et al, 2011;Pietkiewicz et al, 2010) doxorubicin-resistant variant (MCF-7/DOX) demonstrated a significantly lower accumulation of cyanine-type photosensitizers. The drugloaded nanoparticles were found to access the interior of the tumor cells, followed by an appreciable drug release inside as a result of the cancer cellular uptake of nanocarriers by means of diffusion or phagocytosis/endocytosis mechanisms (Müller et al, 2001).…”

“…The concentration of IR-786 in all experiments with loaded nanocarriers was adjusted to be the same as that of the free dye molecules, i.e., 4 Â 10 À6 M. Control cells (negative control without cyanine IR-786 or with empty nanocapsules) were processed in the same way. The experiment conditions (amount of light/drug doses and time of exposure of the cells) were set similar to our earlier studies (Kulbacka et al, 2011;Pietkiewicz et al, 2010) as well as to literature data describing cyanine-type photosensitizers and other photosensitizing agents, (Delaey et al, 2000;Usuda et al, 2003;Zhao et al, 2009) in order to prove that the dose and light exposure conditions that were applied to the IR -786 encapsulated form is enough efficient in relation to the native photosensitizer. The cells were irradiated for 10 min with a total light dose of 6 J/cm 2 using a lamp (OPTEL Opole, Fibre Illuminator, Poland) with polarized light and a infrared-pass filter (k max 760-800 nm).…”

“…Cell lines for biological experiments were a kind gift from the Department of Tumor Biology, Comprehensive Center of Oncology, Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Institute, Gliwice Branch, Poland. Cells were grown in cultured DMEM (Sigma) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (Biowhittaker) and antibiotics (penicillin/ streptomycin, Sigma) in 25 ml TC flasks (Falcon) at 37°C, in 5% CO 2 humidified atmosphere according to our previous studies (Kulbacka et al, 2011;Pietkiewicz et al, 2010). For the experiments the cells were removed by trypsinization (trypsin 0.025% and EDTA 0.02%; Sigma) and rinsed twice with PBS.…”

“…Since the late 1980s the synthesis of porphyrin derivatives has provided so-called second-generation photosensitizers (e.g., benzoporphyrins, chlorines, phthalocyanines) having longer activation wavelengths (above 650 nm) and faster clearance from normal tissue as well as comprising both deeper penetration into tissue, and better tumor selectivity (Josefsen and Boyle, 2008;Paszko et al, 2011;Yano, 2011). Light-sensitive cyanine dyes have also been identified throughout the last years of studies as some of the most promising photosensitizing agents of the second generation (Delaey et al, 2000;Kassab, 2002;Kulbacka et al, 2011) with great potential application in cancer PDT (García Vior et al, 2011;Kulbacka et al, 2011;Pietkiewicz et al, 2010). Because most cyaninetype PSs can absorb near-infrared light (750-900 nm) this leads to improving light penetration through cancer tissue and allows for photochemotherapy of larger tumors (Lee et al, 2008).…”

Photo-oxidative action in MCF-7 cancer cells induced by hydrophobic cyanines loaded in biodegradable microemulsion-templated nanocapsules

“…The cyanine derivatives, a complex group of dyes containing numerous subgroups featuring cationic and anionic compounds, appear to have interesting properties and they have been studied as potential PDT dyes in recent years. Some authors have reported on application of indocyanine green, squarylium cyanine and MC540 in photodynamic therapy (8,9). Such structures were used for the selective…”