Abstract
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a non-invasive, selective, and cost-effective cancer therapy. The development of readily accessible templates that allow rapid structural modification for further improvement of PDT remains important. We previously reported thiophene-based organic D-π-A sensitizers consisted of an electron-donating (D) moiety, a π-conjugated bridge (π) moiety, and an electron-accepting (A) moiety as valuable templates for a photosensitizer that can be used in PDT. Our preliminary structure-activity relationship study revealed that the structure of the A moiety significantly influences its phototoxicity. In this study, we evaluated the photoabsorptive, cellular uptake, and photo-oxidizing abilities of D-π-A sensitizers that contained different A moieties. The level of phototoxicity of the D-π-A sensitizers was rationalized by considering those three abilities. In addition, we observed the ability of amphiphilic sensitizers containing either a carboxylic acid or an amide in an A moiety to form aggregates that penetrate cells mainly via endocytosis.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 315-321 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2019 Jan 15 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Endocytosis
- Organic dye
- Photodynamic therapy
- Sensitizer
- Singlet oxygen
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Medicine
- Molecular Biology
- Pharmaceutical Science
- Drug Discovery
- Clinical Biochemistry
- Organic Chemistry