Organically Modified Silica Nanoparticles with Covalently Incorporated Photosensitizer for Photodynamic Therapy of Cancer

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 7; no. 9; pp. 2835 - 2842
• Main Authors: Ohulchanskyy, Tymish Y, Roy, Indrajit, Goswami, Lalit N, Chen, Yihui, Bergey, Earl J, Pandey, Ravindra K, Oseroff, Allan R, Prasad, Paras N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: WASHINGTON American Chemical Society 01.09.2007; Amer Chemical Soc
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Survival - drug effects; Chemistry; Chemistry, Multidisciplinary; Chemistry, Physical; Condensed matter: structure, mechanical and thermal properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Crystallization - methods; Drug Carriers - chemistry; Drug Compounding - methods; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Materials Science; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary; Materials Testing; Methods of nanofabrication; Methods. Procedures. Technologies; Molecular Conformation; Nanocrystalline materials; Nanoparticles - chemistry; Nanoparticles - ultrastructure; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanoscience & Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology - methods; Neoplasms - drug therapy; Neoplasms - pathology; Organic Chemicals - chemistry; Others; Particle Size; Photochemotherapy - methods; Photosensitizing Agents - administration & dosage; Photosensitizing Agents - chemistry; Physical Sciences; Physics; Physics, Applied; Physics, Condensed Matter; Radiation effects on specific materials; Science & Technology; Science & Technology - Other Topics; Silicon Dioxide - chemistry; Structure of solids and liquids; crystallography; Technology; Various methods and equipments; SINGLET OXYGEN; ANTICANCER DRUGS; POLYMERIC MICELLES; QUANTUM DOTS; DELIVERY; WATER; Encapsulation; Drugs; Nanoparticles; Radiation effects; Photodynamic therapy; Tumor cells; Nanostructured materials; Photosensitizer; Silica; Nanomaterial synthesis; Nanobiotechnology
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl0714637

We report a novel nanoformulation of a photosensitizer (PS), for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer, where the PS molecules are covalently incorporated into organically modified silica (ORMOSIL) nanoparticles. We found that the covalently incorporated PS molecules retained their spectroscopic and functional properties and could robustly generate cytotoxic singlet oxygen molecules upon photoirradiation. The synthesized nanoparticles are of ultralow size (∼20 nm) and are highly monodispersed and stable in aqueous suspension. The advantage offered by this covalently linked nanofabrication is that the drug is not released during systemic circulation, which is often a problem with physical encapsulation. These nanoparticles are also avidly uptaken by tumor cells in vitro and demonstrate phototoxic action, thereby highlighting their potential in diagnosis and PDT of cancer.