Faculty of Engineering, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel.
Bar-Ilan Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 5290002, Israel.
Int J Mol Sci. 2022 Feb 18;23(4):2286. doi: 10.3390/ijms23042286.
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photothermal therapy (PTT) are promising therapeutic methods for cancer treatment; however, as single modality therapies, either PDT or PTT is still limited in its success rate. A dual application of both PDT and PTT, in a combined protocol, has gained immense interest. In this study, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were conjugated with a PDT agent, meso-tetrahydroxyphenylchlorin (mTHPC) photosensitizer, designed as nanotherapeutic agents that can activate a dual photodynamic/photothermal therapy in SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells. The AuNP-mTHPC complex is biocompatible, soluble, and photostable. PDT efficiency is high because of immediate reactive oxygen species (ROS) production upon mTHPC activation by the 650-nm laser, which decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (ψ). Likewise, the AuNP-mTHPC complex is used as a photoabsorbing (PTA) agent for PTT, due to efficient plasmon absorption and excellent photothermal conversion characteristics of AuNPs under laser irradiation at 532 nm. Under the laser irradiation of a PDT/PTT combination, a twofold phototoxicity outcome follows, compared to PDT-only or PTT-only treatment. This indicates that PDT and PTT have synergistic effects together as a combined therapeutic method. Our study aimed at applying the AuNP-mTHPC approach as a potential treatment of cancer in the biomedical field.
光动力疗法（PDT）和光热疗法（PTT）是治疗癌症的有前途的治疗方法；然而，作为单一模式疗法，PDT 或 PTT 的成功率仍然有限。将 PDT 和 PTT 两者联合应用于联合方案中引起了极大的兴趣。在这项研究中，金纳米粒子（AuNPs）与 PDT 剂，meso-四羟基苯基氯（mTHPC）光敏剂偶联，设计为纳米治疗剂，可以在 SH-SY5Y 人神经母细胞瘤细胞中激活双重光动力/光热治疗。AuNP-mTHPC 复合物具有生物相容性、可溶性和光稳定性。由于 mTHPC 在 650nm 激光照射下立即产生活性氧（ROS），因此 PDT 效率很高，这降低了线粒体膜电位（ψ）。同样，由于 AuNPs 在 532nm 激光照射下具有有效的等离子体吸收和优异的光热转换特性，因此 AuNP-mTHPC 复合物可用作 PTT 的光吸收（PTA）剂。在 PDT/PTT 联合激光照射下，与单独 PDT 或单独 PTT 治疗相比，会产生两倍的光毒性作用。这表明 PDT 和 PTT 作为联合治疗方法具有协同作用。我们的研究旨在将 AuNP-mTHPC 方法应用于生物医学领域的癌症潜在治疗中。
