Inclusion complex vs. conjugation of hydrophobic photosensitizers with β-cyclodextrin: Improved disaggregation and photodynamic therapy efficacy against glioblastoma cells.

Self-aggregation of hydrophobic porphyrin-based photosensitizers (PSs) in aqueous biological environment decreases their bioavailability and in vivo therapeutic efficacy, which hampers their clinical use in photodynamic therapy (PDT). In the current study, we explore three new supramolecular systems based of hydrophobic PSs (i.e.

New Targeted Gold Nanorods for the Treatment of Glioblastoma by Photodynamic Therapy.

This study describes the employment of gold nanorods (AuNRs), known for their good reputation in hyperthermia-based cancer therapy, in a hybrid combination of photosensitizers (PS) and peptides (PP). We report here, the design and the synthesis of this nanosystem and its application as a vehicle for the selective drug delivery and the efficient photodynamic therapy (PDT). AuNRs were functionalized by polyethylene glycol, phototoxic pyropheophorbide-a (Pyro) PS, and a "KDKPPR" peptide moiety to target neuropilin-1 receptor (NRP-1).

Use of Cyclodextrins in Anticancer Photodynamic Therapy Treatment.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is mainly used to destroy cancerous cells; it combines the action of three components: a photoactivatable molecule or photosensitizer (PS), the light of an appropriate wavelength, and naturally occurring molecular oxygen. After light excitation of the PS, the excited PS then reacts with molecular oxygen to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), leading to cellular damage. One of the drawbacks of PSs is their lack of solubility in water and body tissue fluids, thereby causing low bioavailability, drug-delivery efficiency, therapeutic efficacy, and ROS production.

Titania and silica nanoparticles coupled to Chlorin e6 for anti-cancer photodynamic therapy.

In this study, light-sensitive photosensitizers (Chlorin e6, Ce6) were linked to TiO and SiO nanoparticles (NPs) in order to develop new kinds of NP-based drug delivery systems for cancer treatment by PDT. TiO or SiO NPs were modified either by the growth of a polysiloxane layer constituted of two silane reagents ((3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS)) around the core (PEGylated NPs: TiO@4Si-Ce6-PEG, SiO@4Si-Ce6-PEG) or simply modified by APTES alone (APTES-modified NPs: TiO-APTES-Ce6, SiO-APTES-Ce6). Ce6 was covalently attached onto the modified TiO and SiO NPs via an amide bond.

The application of titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, fullerene, and graphene nanoparticles in photodynamic therapy.

Nanoparticles (NPs) have been shown to have good ability to improve the targeting and delivery of therapeutics. In the field of photodynamic therapy (PDT), this targeting advantage of NPs could help ensure drug delivery at specific sites. Among the commonly reported NPs for PDT applications, NPs from zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, and fullerene are commonly reported.