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Updated: Dec 17, 2025
Anticancer Efficacy of Photodynamic Therapy with Lung Cancer-Targeted Nanoparticles
Published on: December 1, 2016
A xanthene derivative, free or associated to nanoparticles, as a new potential agent for anticancer photodynamic
Kaiming Wang1, Juan Zhang1,2, Wellington Tavares de Sousa Júnior2
1School of Biological Science and Technology, University of Jinan, Jinan, China.
Abstract:
The efficacy and safety of photodynamic therapy (PDT) have drawn much attention from clinicians and researchers in the field of anticancer treatments since the last century. Despite the numerous positive outcomes, the works on PDT have brought to light over the last decades, much room remains for improvements in PDT tools, mainly on the photosensitizer molecules. This work reports the first experiments evidencing the photosensitizing activity of DHX-1, a xanthene derivative-based near-infrared probe recently described in the literature, both as a free molecule and associated to a nanostructured lipid carrier. The results show that the DHX-1 presents a broad band of light absorption within the optical window of biological tissues (600-800 nm), generates reactive oxygen species when photoactivated, and is phototoxic against murine breast adenocarcinoma 4T1 cells and murine fibroblast NIH-3T3 in vitro. Moreover, the association of DHX-1 to a nanostructured lipid carrier strongly reduced its phototoxicity against the normal cell line.
Insights
Researchers explored DHX-1, a novel near-infrared probe, for photodynamic therapy (PDT). DHX-1 showed photosensitizing activity and was phototoxic to cancer cells, with reduced toxicity to normal cells when delivered via nanostructured lipid carriers.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Biotechnology
- Photomedicine
Background:
- Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising anticancer treatment.
- Improvements in photosensitizer molecules are crucial for advancing PDT.
- Xanthene derivatives offer potential as photosensitizers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the photosensitizing activity of DHX-1, a novel xanthene derivative.
- To evaluate DHX-1's efficacy as a free molecule and when associated with nanostructured lipid carriers.
- To assess DHX-1's phototoxicity against cancer and normal cell lines.
Main Methods:
- Absorption spectroscopy to determine light absorption properties.
- Photoactivation experiments to assess reactive oxygen species generation.
- In vitro phototoxicity assays using 4T1 and NIH-3T3 cell lines.
Main Results:
- DHX-1 exhibits broad light absorption in the 600-800 nm biological optical window.
- Photoactivated DHX-1 generates reactive oxygen species.
- DHX-1 demonstrated phototoxicity against 4T1 cancer cells and NIH-3T3 fibroblasts.
- Association with nanostructured lipid carriers reduced DHX-1's phototoxicity to normal cells.
Conclusions:
- DHX-1 is a viable photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy.
- DHX-1 shows selective phototoxicity, particularly when encapsulated in nanostructured lipid carriers.
- DHX-1 holds potential for developing improved PDT agents.
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