Porphyrin-based bridged silsesquioxane nanoparticles for targeted two-photon photodynamic therapy of zebrafish xenografted with human tumor.

Background: Bridged silsesquioxane nanoparticles (BSNs) recently described represent a new class of nanoparticles exhibiting versatile applications and particularly a strong potential for nanomedicine.

Aims: In this work, we describe the synthesis of BSNs from an octasilylated functional porphyrin precursor (PORBSNs) efficiently obtained through a click reaction. These innovative and very small-sized nanoparticles were functionalized with PEG and mannose (PORBSNs-mannose) in order to target breast tumors in vivo.