ORGN 235 |
New therapeutic window chromophores as photodynamic therapeutic agents
| Donal F. O'Shea1, John Killoran1, Aoife Gorman1, Caroline O'Shea2, and William M. Gallagher2. (1) Centre for Synthesis and Chemical Biology, Department of Chemistry, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland, (2) Department of Pharmacology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland |
| The synthesis, spectroscopic characteristics and in vitro properties of a new class of photosensitiser, namely the BF2 chelates of tetra-aryl-azadipyrromethenes, 1, will be described with the aim to develop novel, non-porphyrin, photodynamic therapeutic agents. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a non-invasive technique for the treatment of a variety of solid tumour types by the combined use of visible or near-visible light with a photosensitising drug. The majority of PDT agents investigated to date are based on cyclic-tetrapyrrole macrocycles from which it can be difficult to generate an array of sequentially modified derivatives. However, our proposed new class of sensitiser is a good starting point as they are amenable to synthetic modification around the periphery of the sensitiser, which enables the optimisation of key aspects of their photophysical and therapeutic properties.  |
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