Zinc-(II) 2,9,16,23-tetrakis (methoxy) phthalocyanine: Potential photosensitizer for use in photodynamic therapy in vitro

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an innovative treatment for several types of malignant and non-malignant disease. In the present study, ZnPcOCH3 was investigated on a human larynx-carcinoma cell line (Hep-2) for its use in PDT. This drug exhibited favourable properties as a photosensitizer in vitro because ZnPcOCH3 is able to penetrate efficiently in the cytoplasm of cultured cancer cells and is partially localized in lysosomes. The results show that ZnPcOCH3-PDT-induced apoptosis by caspase dependent pathway. The new compound shows a good photosensitizing efficiency in vitro on Hep-2 cells, encouraging further in vivo studies.

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