Enhancing Photodynamic Therapy Efficacy by Using Fluorinated Nanoplatform

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a noninvasive therapeutic modality with fast healing process and little or no scarring. The production of reactive oxygen species is highly dependent on oxygen concentration, and thus, the therapeutic efficacy of PDT would be retarded by inefficient oxygen supply in hypoxic tumor cell and the oxygen self-consuming mechanism of PDT. It is well-known that perfluorocarbons are endowed with properties of enhanced oxygen solubility and transfer capacity. Herein, we prepared a series of nanoplatforms of spherical micelles with different ratios of pentafluorophenyl to porphyrin in the core and utilized these micelles as models to examine the influence of content of fluorinated segments on the PDT effect of porphyrins. It was found for the first time, as far as we are aware, that the production efficacy of singlet oxygen increased with the rising in the ratio of pentafluorophenyl to porphyrin. Thus, this work presents a new avenue to improve PDT efficacy by enhancing oxygen solubility and diffusivity of nanoplatforms with the incorporation of perfluorocarbon segments.