Breast cancer is a life-threatening disease that is gaining
increasing
importance due to its rising incidence, highlighting the need for
novel treatment methods with the least disadvantages. Recently, scientists
have focused on developing therapeutic treatment modalities for effective
cancer treatment. In contrast to conventional cancer treatment methods
such as immunotherapy, surgery, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy, photodynamic
therapy (PDT) is gaining prominence. Besides, sonodynamic treatment
(SDT) is a noninvasive therapeutic approach that uses ultrasound to
induce high tissue penetration. In both methods, sensitizers are activated
to generate cytotoxic reactive oxygen species such as •OH and 1O2. In particular, the combined use
of hybrid and complementary treatment methods has become an important
modality in cancer treatment in recent years. Sono-photodynamic therapy
(SPDT), which is an important method applied in combination with PDT
and SDT, has started to be preferred in terms of reducing potential
side effects compared to monotherapy. One of the most important types
of sensitizers used in PDT and SDT is known as phthalocyanines (Pcs).
Motivated by these facts, this research presents the sono-photochemical,
in vitro cytotoxicity, and theoretical evaluation of water-soluble
gallium phthalocyanine (GaPc). The results indicate that
the quantum yield of the generation of singlet oxygen increased in
sono-photochemical studies (ΦΔ = 0.94), compared
to photochemical studies (ΦΔ = 0.72). In vitro
analyses revealed that GaPc did not exhibit significant
cytotoxic effects at the specified varying concentration doses (1–20
μM). Furthermore, GaPc-mediated SPDT triggered
cell death by inducing reactive oxygen species formation in the breast
cancer cell line (MCF-7). The interaction mechanism of the GaPc with EGFR and VEGFR2 target proteins, which are critical regulators
of metastasis, proliferation, and angiogenesis, was investigated by
molecular docking simulation. GaPc has effective binding
affinities against target proteins, and this affinity was found to
be the highest against VEGFR2. Molecular docking results showed a
good correlation with the obtained biological results. Eventually,
this molecular building of the efficient water-soluble phthalocyanine-based
sensitizer is a potential therapeutic for PDT, SDT, and SPDT applications.