Porphyrin‐Based Nanoparticles: A Promising Phototherapy Platform

Abstract

Phototherapy, including photodynamic therapy and photothermal therapy, is an emerging form of non‐invasive treatment. The combination of imaging technology and phototherapy is becoming an attractive development in the treatment of cancer, as it allows for highly effective therapeutic results through image‐guided phototherapy. Porphyrins have attracted significant interest in the treatment and diagnosis of cancer due to their excellent phototherapeutic effects in phototherapy and their remarkable imaging capabilities in fluorescence imaging, magnetic resonance imaging and photoacoustic imaging. However, porphyrins suffer from poor water solubility, low near‐infrared absorption and insufficient tumor accumulation. The development of nanotechnology provides an effective way to improve the bioavailability, phototherapeutic effect and imaging capability of porphyrins. This review highlights the research results of porphyrin‐based small molecule nanoparticles in phototherapy and image‐guided phototherapy in the last decade and discusses the challenges and directions for the development of porphyrin‐based small molecule nanoparticles in phototherapy.

Advances and Trends of Photoresponsive Hydrogels for Bone Tissue Engineering

“…126 However, their toxicity due to heavy metals hinders the clinical application of these nanoparticles. 120 Small molecule organic dyes, such as indocyanine green (ICG), 132 porphyrin, 133 croconaine, and its derivatives 134 are considered to be ideal scaffolds for clinical applications due to their superior biodegradability and biocompatibility. Polymeric reagents such as polymerized polydopamine (PDA) nanoparticles 134 possess a highly conjugated structure that allows for optimal absorption in the NIR-II treatment window.…”

Porphyrin‐Based Nanozymes for Biomedical Applications

“…Therefore, porphyrins are one of the most studied photosensitizers in PDT. [ 62 ] The application of PDT is limited by the lower oxygen levels in tumor tissues compared to normal tissues, which reduces ROS synthesis. Increasing oxygen concentration by breaking down H 2 O 2 overexpressed in tumor tissues is considered a promising strategy.…”

A unique corrole-based metal–organic polymer for synergistic phototherapy

“…31 Nevertheless, porphyrin compounds as photosensitizers still face the problems of limited water solubility, lack of biostability, and aggregation-induced quenching of the excited states. 32 Recently, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), defined as highly crystalline porous coordinative polymeric materials constructed by interconnecting organic linkers with metal ions or metal oxide clusters through coordination bonds, have been widely explored. 33,34 Inspired by the excellent photosensitizer loading capacity, structural tunability, and porous structural properties of MOFs, the Lin group reported the first example of porphyrin-based MOF (DBP-Hf) composed of 5,15-di(pbenzoato) porphyrin (DBP) and the 18-connected Hf 12 (m 3 -O) 8 (m 3 -OH) 8 (m 2 -OH) 6 secondary building units (SBUs) for PDT applications in 2014.…”

“…31 Nevertheless, porphyrin compounds as photosensitizers still face the problems of limited water solubility, lack of biostability, and aggregation-induced quenching of the excited states. 32…”