Combination of PDT photosensitizers with NO photodononors

Photochem Photobiol Sci. 2018 Nov 1;17(11):1709-1727. doi: 10.1039/c8pp00272j. Epub 2018 Aug 24.

Abstract

Combination of photodynamic therapy (PDT) with other treatment modalities is emerging as one of the most suitable strategies to increase the effectiveness of therapeutic action on cancer and bacterial diseases and to minimize side effects. This approach aims at exploiting the additive/synergistic effects arising from multiple therapeutic species acting on different mechanistic pathways. The coupling of PDT with photocontrolled release of nitric oxide (NO) through the appropriate assembly of PDT photosensitizers (PSs) and NO photodonors (NOPDs) may open up intriguing avenues towards new and still underexplored multimodal therapies not based on "conventional" drugs but entirely controlled by light stimuli. In this contribution, we present an overview of the most recent advances in this field, illustrating several strategies to assemble PSs and NOPDs allowing them to operate independently without reciprocal interferences and describing the potential applications with particular emphasis on their impact in anticancer and antibacterial research.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemistry
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / metabolism
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / metabolism
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Bacteria / drug effects
  • Humans
  • Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Nitric Oxide / chemistry*
  • Nitric Oxide / metabolism
  • Photochemical Processes
  • Photochemotherapy*
  • Photosensitizing Agents / chemistry
  • Photosensitizing Agents / metabolism
  • Photosensitizing Agents / pharmacology*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Photosensitizing Agents
  • Nitric Oxide