Anti-cancer activity of zinc-tetraphenylporphyrin photosensitizer/dextran--polyacrylamide copolymer/Au(Ag) nanoparticle nanohybrids.

A comparative study of anti-cancer photodynamic activities of three-component zinc-tetraphenylporphyrin photosensitizer/dextran--polyacrylamide copolymer/Au(Ag) nanoparticle (ZnTPP/D--PAA/Au(Ag)NP) nanohybrids on LNCaP prostate cancer cells was carried out under 420 nm light irradiation with low power. A significant cytotoxic effect was revealed for both ZnTPP/D--PAA/AgNP and ZnTPP/D--PAA/AuNP nanohybrids, where ZnTPP/D--PAA/AgNP nanohybrids exhibited considerably higher anticancer activity (82%) compared to ZnTPP/D--PAA/AuNP nanohybrids (45%). The higher activity of silver-containing nanohybrids is rationalized based on two factors.