Encapsulation of glycosylated porphyrins in silica nanoparticles to enhance the efficacy of cancer photodynamic therapy

Abstract

In this study, we encapsulated S-galactosylated and S-glucosylated porphyrins (Pors) into amorphous silica nanoparticles (SNPs) to enhance the photodynamic therapy (PDT) activity. The resulting galacto- and gluco-nanoformulations were demonstrated to be spherical in shape with diameters of 197.3 ± 29.0 nm and 128.3 ± 22.2 nm. The galacto- and gluco-nanoparticles (NPs) were able to produce a high amount of singlet oxygen (¹O₂) and were stable under the conditions of the experiments. In vitro studies show that the nanoformulations were effectively taken up by the human bladder cancer cell lines HT-1376 and UM-UC-3. The PDT results show that these photoactive nanoformulations are 3 to 5 times more efficient than the non-encapsulated/free Pors. These Por–silica nanoformulations could be successfully used as novel nanocarriers for the delivery of photosensitizer materials for cancer PDT.