Fluorescent periodic mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles dual-functionalized via click chemistry for two-photon photodynamic therapy in cells

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. B, Materials for biology and medicine Vol. 4; no. 33; pp. 5567 - 5574
• Main Authors: Croissant, Jonas G, Picard, Sébastien, Aggad, Dina, Klausen, Maxime, Mauriello Jimenez, Chiara, Maynadier, Marie, Mongin, Olivier, Clermont, Guillaume, Genin, Emilie, Cattoën, Xavier, Wong Chi Man, Michel, Raehm, Laurence, Garcia, Marcel, Gary-Bobo, Magali, Blanchard-Desce, Mireille, Durand, Jean-Olivier
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.01.2016
• Subjects: Absorption; Breast; Cancer; Fluorescence; Imaging; Nanoparticles; Photodynamic therapy; Synthesis (chemistry)
• ISSN: 2050-750X; 2050-7518
• DOI: 10.1039/c6tb00638h

The synthesis of ethenylene-based periodic mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles for two-photon imaging and photodynamic therapy of breast cancer cells is described. A dedicated two-photon absorbing fluorophore possessing four triethoxysilyl groups and having large two-photon absorption in the near IR region, and azidopropyltriethoxysilane were incorporated into the structure. The mesoporous nanoparticles of 100 nm diameter were further functionalized by means of click chemistry with a propargylated fluorescent bromo-quinoline photosensitizer able to generate singlet oxygen. The photophysical properties and two-photon absorption properties of the nanoparticles were investigated evidencing complementary contribution of the two dyes. Both dyes contribute to the two-photon absorption response of the mesoporous nanoparticles while efficient FRET from the two-photon fluorophore to the quinoline sensitizer is observed. The dual-functionalized nanoparticles were incubated with MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Two-photon confocal imaging demonstrated the endocytosis of the nanoparticles within cancer cells. Moreover, brief two-photon irradiation (3 scans of 1.57 s) at 760 nm at high laser power (3 W) was shown to induce 40% of cancer cell death demonstrating the potential of the dual-functionalized mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles for two-photon photodynamic therapy.