Antimicrobial and anti-biofilm effect of a novel BODIPY photosensitizer against Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) combines the use of organic dyes (photosensitizers, PSs) and visible light in order to elicit a photo-oxidative stress which causes bacterial death. GD11, a recently synthesized PS belonging to the boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) class, was demonstrated to be efficient against planktonic cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, causing a 7 log unit reduction of viable cells when administered at 2.5?μM. The effectiveness of GD11 against P. aeruginosa biofilms grown in flow-cells and microtiter trays was also demonstrated. Confocal laser scanning microscopy of flow-cell-grown biofilms suggests that the treatment has a biocidal effect against bacterial biofilm cells.     

Tumor microenvironment-activated nanosystems with selenophenol substituted BODIPYs as photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy

NIR-light-absorbing photosensitizers with the capability of selective localization and activation in tumor regions are of great importance for practical photodynamic therapy (PDT). Here, selenophenol substituted BODIPYs were designed and synthesized as new photosensitizers for PDT. One of these obtained BODIPYs, IBSeOV, possesses an intense and low energy absorption with a high singlet oxygen quantum yield (Φ_Δ = 60%). Considering manganese dioxide (MnO₂) nanosheets as versatile nanocarriers in cancer theranostics, nanosystem IBSeOV/MnO₂ was then fabricated to furnish tumor environment selective activation. Such designed nanoplatform allowed for GSH-controllable ¹O₂ production and exhibited low cytotoxicity in dark but good photocytotoxicity to cancer cells. The in vivo antitumor outcome suggested the high treatment efficiency of IBSeOV/MnO₂ for tumor therapy.     

Design and synthesis of a novel BODIPY-labeled PSMA inhibitor

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a zinc-bound metalloprotease which is highly expressed in metastatic prostate cancer. It has been considered an excellent target protein for prostate cancer imaging and targeted therapy because it is a membrane protein and its active site is located in the extracellular region. We successfully synthesized and evaluated a novel PSMA ligand conjugated with BODIPY_650/665. Compound 1 showed strong PSMA-inhibitory activity and selective uptake into PSMA-expressing tumors. Compound 1 has the potential to be utilized as a near infrared (NIR) optical imaging probe targeting PSMA-expressing cancers.