Photodiagnosis and photodynamic effects of bacteriochlorin-naphthalimide conjugates on tumor cells and mouse model.

Abstract Photo-induced cytotoxicity and antitumor activity of a series of dual function agents for photodynamic therapy (PDT) and fluorescent imaging based on bacteriochlorin photosensitizer conjugated with various naphthalimide fluorophores was studied in vitro using murine tumor cells of S37 sarcoma and in vivo on mice bearing murine S37 sarcoma. Upon irradiation at the absorption maximum of the photosensitizer, the activity of conjugates was as high as in the case of individual bacteriochlorin, while an additional excitation of the naphthalimide fragment led to an increase in the PDT efficacy due to resonance energy transfer from the fluorophore to photosensitizer. The fluorescence contrast and specific cytotoxic activity measurements indicate that the conjugate of bacteriochlorin with 3,4-dimethoxestyrene-substituted naphthalimide is the most promising agent for the application as theranostic in PDT.