title: Development of near-infrared photoactivable phthalocyanine-loaded nanoparticles to kill tumor cells: An improved tool for photodynamic therapy of solid cancers.
abstract: Conventional photodynamic therapy has shown to be beneficial in the treatment of a variety of tumors. However, one of its major limitations is the inadequate penetration depth of visible light. In order to overcome this constraint, we developed 80nm poly-methylmethacrylate core-shell fluorescent nanoparticles (FNP) loaded with the photosensitizer tetrasulfonated aluminum phthalocyanine (Ptl). To demonstrate the efficacy of our Ptl@FNP we performed in vitro and in vivo studies using a human prostate tumor model. Our data reveal that Ptl@FNP are internalized by tumor cells, favour Ptl intracellular accumulation, and efficiently trigger cell death through the generation of ROS upon irradiation with 680nm light. When directly injected into tumors intramuscularly induced in SCID mice, Ptl@FNP upon irradiation significantly reduce tumor growth with higher efficiency than the bare Ptl. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the newly developed nanoparticles may be utilized as a delivery system for antitumor phototherapy in solid cancers.
authors.affiliation: Osteoarticolar Regeneration Laboratory, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Bologna, Italy; Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DIBINEM), Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duchi
authors.affiliation: Cell Therapy Group, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC), CSIC, Barcelona, Spain; Networking Biomedical Research Center on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramos-Romero
authors.affiliation: Osteoarticolar Regeneration Laboratory, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Bologna, Italy; Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DIBINEM), Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dozza
authors.affiliation: Cell Therapy Group, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC), CSIC, Barcelona, Spain; Networking Biomedical Research Center on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guerra-Rebollo
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Immunorheumatology and Tissue Regeneration/RAMSES, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cattini
authors.affiliation: National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity (ISOF), Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ballestri
authors.affiliation: National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity (ISOF), Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dambruoso
authors.affiliation: National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity (ISOF), Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guerrini
authors.affiliation: National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity (ISOF), Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sotgiu
authors.affiliation: National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity (ISOF), Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Greta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Varchi
authors.affiliation: Osteoarticolar Regeneration Laboratory, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Bologna, Italy; Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DIBINEM), Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: enrico.lucarelli@ior.it.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lucarelli
authors.affiliation: Cell Therapy Group, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC), CSIC, Barcelona, Spain; Networking Biomedical Research Center on Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Jeronimo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blanco
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D006801:Humans; D007211:Indoles / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D054833:Isoindoles; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D016513:Mice, SCID; D053758:Nanoparticles; D010778:Photochemotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D007211:Indoles; D054833:Isoindoles; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; C013647:phthalocyanine
keywords: Bioluminescence imaging; Nanoparticles; Photodynamic therapy; Prostate cancer; Solid tumors; Tetrasulfonated aluminum phthalocyanine