Poly(Lactide‐Co‐Glycolide) Nanoparticles Co‐Loaded with Chlorophyllin and Quantum Dots as Photodynamic Therapy Agents

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an approach to treating cancer and involves light‐induced activation of a photosensitizer that triggers the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in targeted cells and subsequent cell death. Examples of photosensitizers are porphyrins, including the natural compound chlorophyll. These molecules can be delivered alone or co‐formulated with an agent, such as quantum dots (QDs), that is able to excite them through a fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)‐based mechanism. We encapsulated a chlorophyllin copper complex and CdSe/ZnS core‐shell QDs into biodegradable nanoparticles (NPs) composed of poly(lactide‐co‐glycolide) (PLGA), that allow modification with specific targeting ligands. When excited at 365 nm, FRET occurs between co‐encapsulated QDs and chlorophyllin to result in the formation of ROS. This chlorophyllin‐QD coformulation allows generation of ROS both in an aqueous environment and in cells, thus confirming the potential of this formulation in PDT.

Recent Advances in Nanotechnology with Nano-Phytochemicals: Molecular Mechanisms and Clinical Implications in Cancer Progression

“…However, one drawback of QDs is their toxicity, which is caused by the release of factors that induce oxidative stress, including ROS, inflammatory cytokines, and metal ions [68]. Recently, curcumin quantum dots (CurQDs) were found to enhance the degradation of bacterial biofilms compared to curcumin alone [69], and folic acid [70] and chlorophyllin [71] have also emerged as promising QD NP candidates for imaging diagnosis.…”

Diverse Particle Carriers Prepared by Co‐Precipitation and Phase Separation: Formation and Applications

“…The nanoparticles formed by co‐precipitation are widely used to encapsulate cargos, such as β‐carotene, doxorubicin, paclitaxel, curcumin, insulin, DNA and so on, to solve the problems of low water solubility, poor stability, poor bioavailability and controlled release [54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63] . Lu et al.…”

“…[49] The nanoparticles formed by co-precipitation are widely used to encapsulate cargos, such as β-carotene, doxorubicin, paclitaxel, curcumin, insulin, DNA and so on, to solve the problems of low water solubility, poor stability, poor bioavailability and controlled release. [54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63] Lu et al used flash nanoprecipitation to prepare water-dispersible nanoparticles of 50-400 nm in size containing OZ439, a poor orally bioavailable but promising candidate for single-dose malaria treatment. Compared with unencapsulated drug, OZ439-loaded nanoparticles show characteristics of sustained release and the released drug concentration is several times higher, effectively improving the drug's bioavailability, as shown in Figure 3c.…”

Improvement in the Pharmacological Profile of Copper Biological Active Complexes by Their Incorporation into Organic or Inorganic Matrix

“…Chlorophyllin was encapsulated together with CdSe/ZnS as quantum dots into PLGA. This coformulation allows the generation of ROS upon excitation both in an aqueous medium and in cells, thus exhibiting potential in photodynamic therapy [89]. Some natural polymeric materials, such as polysaccharides (chitosan, hyaluronic acid, sodium alginate, cellulose) and proteins (sponge skeleton, albumin), have been used in recent years for bacc incorporation.…”