Photoinduced biochemical activity of fullerene carboxylic acid

Here we report the preparation of a water-miscible fullerene carboxylic acid (2) and its biological activity-cytotoxicity and G-selective DNA cleaving ability. What is truly remarkable is that the biological activity of C{sub 60} was observed only under irradiation with visible light and not in the dark, suggesting that fullerenes may serve as useful photosensitive biochemical probes. We have found, for the first time, that even low-energy visible light is surfficient to induce biological activity in fullerene derivatives. Among the numerous implications of the present findings, the most exciting prospect includes the use of fullerene derivatives for photodynamic therapy. 18 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.