Bárbara Mesquita, Arunika Singh, Cèlia Prats Masdeu, Nienke Lokhorst, Erik R Hebels, Mies van Steenbergen, Enrico Mastrobattista, Michal Heger, Cornelus F van Nostrum, Sabrina Oliveira
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a suitable alternative to currently employed cancer treatments. However, the hydrophobicity of most photosensitizers (e.g., zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPC)) leads to their aggregation in blood. Moreover, non-specific accumulation in skin and low clearance rate of ZnPC leads to long-lasting skin photosensitization, forcing patients with a short life expectancy to remain indoors. Consequently, the clinical implementation of these photosensitizers is limited. Here, benzyl-poly(ε-caprolactone)-b-poly(ethylene glycol) micelles encapsulating ZnPC (ZnPC-M) were investigated to increase the solubility of ZnPC and its specificity towards cancers cells...
March 14, 2024: International Journal of Pharmaceutics