Photosensitizer localization in amphiphilic block copolymers controls photodynamic therapy efficacy

Vusala Ibrahimova (1, 2, 3) , Sergey A. Denisov (4) , Kevin Vanvarenberg (5) , Peter Verwilst (4) , Véronique Préat (5) , Jean-Michel Guigner (6) , Nathan Mcclenaghan (4) , Sébastien Lecommandoux (2, 1) , Charles-André Fustin (3)

1 LCPO - Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques
2 Team 3 LCPO : Polymer Self-Assembly & Life Sciences
3 IMCN - Institut de la matière condensée et des nanosciences / Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences
4 ISM - Institut des Sciences Moléculaires
5 Unité de Pharmacologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire [Brussels]
6 IMPMC - Institut de minéralogie, de physique des matériaux et de cosmochimie

Localization of the photosensitizer conjugation site in amphiphilic block copolymers is shown to have a great impact on photodynamic therapy efficiency. To this end, an asymmetric multifunctional derivative of the azadipyrromethene boron difluoride chelate (aza-BODIPY) was synthesized and inserted at specific locations in polypeptide-based rod-coil amphiphilic block copolymers. A study of the photophysical properties of the vesicle nanocarriers, obtained by self-assembly of these copolymers, as well as in vitro tests on two cancer cell lines were performed. This study aims at providing guidelines for the optimization of the synthetic design of therapeutic nanomedicines with minimal amounts of photosensitive molecules.

Domaines: Polymères; Matériaux

Vusala Ibrahimova, Sergey A. Denisov, Kevin Vanvarenberg, Peter Verwilst, Véronique Préat, et al.. Photosensitizer localization in amphiphilic block copolymers controls photodynamic therapy efficacy . Nanoscale, 2017, 9 (31), pp.11180-11186. ⟨10.1039/C7NR04403H⟩. ⟨hal-01579522⟩