Photodynamic Therapy with Blended Conducting Polymer/Fullerene Nanoparticle Photosensitizers |
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| Authors: | Mona Doshi Andre J. Gesquiere |
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| Affiliation: | 1.NanoScience Technology Center, University of Central Florida;2.Department of Chemistry, University of Central Florida;3.Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Central Florida;4.CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida |
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| Abstract: | In this article a method for the fabrication and reproducible in-vitro evaluation of conducting polymer nanoparticles blended with fullerene as the next generation photosensitizers for Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is reported. The nanoparticles are formed by hydrophobic interaction of the semiconducting polymer MEH-PPV (poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene]) with the fullerene PCBM (phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester) in the presence of a non-compatible solvent. MEH-PPV has a high extinction coefficient that leads to high rates of triplet formation, and efficient charge and energy transfer to the fullerene PCBM. The latter processes enhance the efficiency of the PDT system through fullerene assisted triplet and radical formation, and ultrafast deactivation of MEH-PPV excited stated. The results reported here show that this nanoparticle PDT sensitizing system is highly effective and shows unexpected specificity to cancer cell lines. |
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| Keywords: | Chemistry Issue 104 Cancer Photodynamic therapy Conducting polymer MTT fluorescence microscopy cell culture |
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