title: Development and characterization of conducting polymer nanoparticles for photodynamic therapy in vitro.
abstract: Conducting polymer nanoparticles (CPNPs), composed of the conducting polymer poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyl-oxy)-p-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV) were studied for applications in biophotonics and therapeutics. The extent of cellular uptake, cytotoxicity, and effectiveness of these nanoparticles in photodynamic therapy (PDT) was investigated for four cell lines, namely TE-71, MDA-MB-231, A549 and OVCAR3. Confocal fluorescence imaging and flow cytometry show that CPNPs are taken up only in limited quantities by TE-71, while they are taken up extensively by the cancer cell lines. The uptake among the cancer cell lines was observed to vary with cell line, with CPNPs uptake increasing from MDA-MB-231 to A549 to OVCAR3. Fluorescence imaging experiments show that the CPNPs have high brightness and appear stable in the intracellular environment. No cytotoxicity of non-photoactivated CPNPs (in dark) was observed from MTT assay. After completion of PDT, the quantitative data on cell viability suggest that cell death scales across the cell lines with CPNP uptake, is light dose dependent, and is complete for OVCAR3. In addition, for OVCAR3 apoptotic cell death is observed after PDT. The reported work illustrates the potential of the intrinsically fluorescent and photoactivateable CPNPs for application in biophotonics and therapeutics.
authors.affiliation: NanoScience Technology Center, Department of Chemistry, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 12424 Research Parkway Suite 400, Orlando, FL 32826, USA.
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Doshi
authors.affiliation: Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, 6900 Lake Nona Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32827, USA.
authors.forename: Alicja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Copik
authors.affiliation: NanoScience Technology Center, Department of Chemistry, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, 12424 Research Parkway Suite 400, Orlando, FL 32826, USA. Electronic address: andre@ucf.edu.
authors.forename: Andre J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Gesquiere
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D061848:Optical Imaging; D010778:Photochemotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D014753:Vinyl Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D011108:Polymers; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D014753:Vinyl Compounds; C520682:poly(2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylenevinylene)
keywords: Aggregation; Conducting polymer; MEH-PPV; PDT; ROS; Triplets