Charge dependent photodynamic activity of alanine based zinc phthalocyanines

• Three alanine-based zinc phthalocyanines of differing charge were synthesized.
• Charge influence the aggregation state and cellular uptake of phthalocyanines.
• Charge influence the singlet oxygen generation of phthalocyanines.
• Charge influence the photodynamic activity of phthalocyanines.
• Electropositive ZnPc3 shows the best anticancer activity compared to the others.

In this paper, to minimize the effects of different structure, three alanine-based zinc phthalocyanines (Pcs) of differing charges were engineered and synthesized with the same basic structure. On this premise, the relationship between nature of charge and photodynamic activity was studied. Besides, further verification and explanation of some inconsistent results were also carried out. The results showed that charge can influence the aggregation state, singlet oxygen generation ability and cellular uptake of Pcs, thereby affecting their photodynamic activity. In addition, the biomolecules inside cells may interact with Pcs of differing charges, which can also influence the aggregation state and singlet oxygen generation of the Pcs, and then influence the relationship between nature of charge and photodynamic activity.

Charge can influence the aggregation state, singlet oxygen generation ability and cellular uptake of phthalocyanines, thus, finally affect their photodynamic activity.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide