Photoactivatable Liposomes for Blue to Deep Red Light-Activated Surface Drug Release: Application to Controlled Delivery of the Antitumoral Drug Melphalan

Bioconjug Chem. 2023 Jul 19;34(7):1304-1315. doi: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.3c00197. Epub 2023 Jul 1.

Abstract

Liposome-based nanoparticles able to release, via a photolytic reaction, a payload anchored at the surface of the phospholipid bilayer were prepared. The liposome formulation strategy uses an original drug-conjugated blue light-sensitive photoactivatable coumarinyl linker. This is based on an efficient blue light-sensitive photolabile protecting group modified by a lipid anchor, which enables its incorporation into liposomes, leading to blue to green light-sensitive nanoparticles. In addition, the formulated liposomes were doped with triplet-triplet annihilation upconverting organic chromophores (red to blue light) in order to prepare red light sensitive liposomes able to release a payload, by upconversion-assisted photolysis. Those light-activatable liposomes were used to demonstrate that direct blue or green light photolysis or red light TTA-UC-assisted drug photolysis can effectively photorelease a drug payload (Melphalan) and kill tumor cells in vitro after photoactivation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Drug Liberation
  • Liposomes*
  • Melphalan*
  • Phospholipids
  • Photolysis

Substances

  • Liposomes
  • Melphalan
  • Phospholipids