Hybrid systems based on gold nanostructures and porphyrins as promising photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy

Enhancing Therapeutic Efficacy of Combined Cancer Phototherapy by Ultrasound‐Mediated In Situ Conversion of Near‐Infrared Cyanine/Porphyrin Microbubbles into Nanoparticles

“…Cyanine dyes such as DiR having absorption in NIR region have been widely investigated as a suitable candidate for both diagnosis and photothermal ablation of tumors . Porphyrins are well‐known photosensitizers in PDT and are also widely used for PTT with excellent properties, such as low cytotoxicity in dark, high molar absorption coefficients in the visible spectral region, and high quantum yield of triplet state . Both DiR and PGL can self‐assemble into microbubbles which serve as a contrast agent to enhance ultrasound imaging.…”

An insight on the role of photosensitizer nanocarriers for Photodynamic Therapy

“…This synergetic efficiency was explained by a rapid energy transfer between the AuNR and the porphyrin producing a large amount of 1 O 2 followed by its conversion into hydroxyl radicals (OH • ). On the other hand no synergetic effect was observed with the spherical AuNP; probably the field enhancement and the electrostatic attraction between the components of this hybrid system were not so efficient in the production of ROS (Ferreira et al 2016). …”

“…Besides the high level of cellular uptake, changes in the cellular morphology were detected and cell membrane damages were confirmed after irradiation of the SK-BR-3 cancer cells when incubated with the PS-AuNP-PEG-Ab conjugate (Penon et al 2017). In 2016, Ferreira et al considered the use of two different shapes (spheres and rods) of gold nanostructures to prepare a colloidal hybrid system with the cationic derivative of 5,10,15,20-tetrapyridylporphyrin (Figure 2) to be used in PDT (Ferreira et al 2016). Based on electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) experiments in combination with spin trapping to detect ROS, the authors concluded that the hybrid system consisting of gold nanorods (AuNR) and the cationic porphyrin is far more efficient than the isolated components.…”

Enhanced photodynamic therapy and fluorescence imaging using gold nanorods for porphyrin delivery in a novel in vitro squamous cell carcinoma 3D model

“…18,19 Gold nanorods (Au NRs) have attracted attention due to their high biocompatibility, stability and tunable plasmon resonance bands that enhance ROS generation for PDT applications. [20][21][22][23] Ferreira and coworkers investigated gold nanostructures of spheres and rods, loading them with a photosensitizer, 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(N-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin tosylate salt, to form colloidal hybrid systems. Their studies using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) showed that the hybrid systems composed of Au NRs and the photosensitizer are more efficient than their free structures in terms of ROS generation, although this was not the case for spheroidal NPs.…”

“…Their studies using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) showed that the hybrid systems composed of Au NRs and the photosensitizer are more efficient than their free structures in terms of ROS generation, although this was not the case for spheroidal NPs. 23 The therapeutic efficacy of anticancer agents has to date generally been assessed in 2 dimensional (2D) monolayer in vitro cell culture or in vivo animal models. 24 However, 2D models cannot replicate interactions between the cells and the surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM) that are present with in vivo models, and the main interactions of the cells in the monolayer culture take place with the plastic surface.…”