title: Nanotechnology for photodynamic therapy: a perspective from the Laboratory of Dr. Michael R. Hamblin in the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
abstract: The research interests of the Hamblin Laboratory are broadly centered on the use of different kinds of light to treat many different diseases. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) uses the combination of dyes with visible light to produce reactive oxygen species and kill bacteria, cancer cells and destroy unwanted tissue. Likewise, UV light is also good at killing especially pathogens. By contrast, red or near-infrared light can have the opposite effect, to act to preserve tissue from dying and can stimulate healing and regeneration. In all these applications, nanotechnology is having an ever-growing impact. In PDT, self-assembled nano-drug carriers (micelles, liposomes, etc.) play a great role in solubilizing the photosensitizers, metal nanoparticles can carry out plasmon resonance enhancement, and fullerenes can act as photosensitizers, themselves. In the realm of healing, single-walled carbon nanotubes can be electrofocused to produce nano-electonic biomedical devices, and nanomaterials will play a great role in restorative dentistry.
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 40 Blossom Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Hamblin
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Long Y
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 40 Blossom Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Shanmugamurthy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lakshmanan
authors.affiliation: Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 40 Blossom Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Ying-Ying
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Garcia-Diaz
authors.affiliation: Iran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karimi
authors.affiliation: Araraquara School of Dentistry-UNESP, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alessandra Nara
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: de Souza Rastelli
authors.affiliation: Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Rakkiyappan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chandran
keywords: Hamblin Laboratory; nanotechnology; photodynamic therapy