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Updated: Feb 19, 2026

In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of Photocontrolled Biologically Active Compounds - Potential Drug Candidates for Cancer Photopharmacology
Published on: September 29, 2023
Chemical antagonism between photodynamic agents and chemotherapeutics: mechanism and avoidance
Qingshuo Meng1, Jia Meng, Wei Ran
1State Key Laboratory of Drug Research & Center of Pharmaceutics, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 501 Haike Road, Shanghai 201203, China. pzhang@simm.ac.cn ypli@simm.ac.cn.
Abstract:
We report a photochemical reaction-induced antagonism between the photodynamic agent (PS) and anti-cancer drugs during combined therapy. The annihilation of singlet oxygen and alkene-containing drugs into inactive drug hydroperoxides is responsible for the antagonism, and results in decreased efficacy against several cancer cell lines. Experimental and simulation results reveal that the annihilation abates with increasing distance between the PS and drugs via confining the PS and drugs into separated vehicles. As a result, antagonism can be switched to synergism in treating both drug sensitive and resistant cancer cells.
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