Nanoparticles based on glycyrrhetinic acid modified porphyrin for photodynamic therapy of cancer.

Self-assembled small molecules, as a novel form of drug presentation, have splendid capabilities for water stability and cell endocytosis. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is regarded as a promising cancer treatment because it is less invasive and has fewer side effects. In this work, an amphiphilic glycyrrhetinic acid-porphyrin conjugate (TPP-GA) was designed and synthesized, and this could self-assemble into nanoparticles (TPP-GA NPs) in water. The morphology of the TPP-GA NPs was observed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and their stability in water was revealed by dynamic light scattering (DLS). The PDT effect of the TPP-GA NPs was confirmed by means of in vitro experiment, after photostability verification. It could be conceived that the application of TPP-GA NPs for PDT is a feasible choice and this work shows progress in the self-assembly of amphiphilic small organic molecules.