New peptide-conjugated chlorin-type photosensitizer targeting neuropilin-1 for anti-vascular targeted photodynamic therapy

Ezatul Kamarulzaman (1, 2) , Amirah Gazzali (1, 2) , Samir Acherar (2) , Céline Frochot (3) , Muriel Barberi-Heyob (4) , Cédric Boura (4) , Patrick Chaimbault (5) , Estelle Sibille (6) , Habibah Wahab (1) , Régis Vanderesse (2)

1 Schol of Pharmaceutical Sciences
2 LCPM - Laboratoire de Chimie Physique Macromoléculaire
3 LRGP - Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés
4 CRAN - Centre de Recherche en Automatique de Nancy
5 SRSMC - Structure et Réactivité des Systèmes Moléculaires Complexes
6 LCP-A2MC - Laboratoire de Chimie et Physique - Approche Multi-échelle des Milieux Complexes

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a cancer treatment modality that requires three components, namely light, dioxygen and a photosensitizing agent. After light excitation, the photosensitizer (PS) in its excited state transfers its energy to oxygen, which leads to photooxidation reactions. In order to improve the selectivity of the treatment, research has focused on the design of PS covalently attached to a tumor-targeting moiety. In this paper, we describe the synthesis and the physico-chemical and photophysical properties of six new peptide-conjugated photosensitizers designed for targeting the neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) receptor. We chose a TPC (5-(4-carboxyphenyl)-10,15, 20-triphenyl chlorine as photosensitizer, coupled via three different spacers (aminohexanoic acid, 1-amino-3,6-dioxaoctanoic acid, and 1-amino-9-aza-3,6,12,15-tetraoxa-10-on-heptadecanoic acid) to two different peptides (DKPPR and TKPRR). The affinity towards the NRP-1 receptor of the conjugated chlorins was evaluated along with in vitro and in vivo stability levels. The tissue concentration of the TPC-conjugates in animal model shows good distribution, especially for the DKPPR conjugates. The novel peptide–PS conjugates proposed in this study were proven to have potential to be further developed as future NRP-1 targeting photodynamic therapy agent.

Mots clés: neuropilin-1; in vivo stability; photodynamic therapy; peptide targeted photosensitizer

Domaines: Cancer

Ezatul Kamarulzaman, Amirah Gazzali, Samir Acherar, Céline Frochot, Muriel Barberi-Heyob, et al.. New peptide-conjugated chlorin-type photosensitizer targeting neuropilin-1 for anti-vascular targeted photodynamic therapy. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2015, 16 (10), pp.24059-24080. ⟨10.3390/ijms161024059⟩. ⟨hal-01216231⟩