Functionality stored in the structures of cyclodextrin–porphyrinoid systems

•Cyclodextrin–porphyrinoid structures possess biomimetic functionality.•They can imitate some biochemical processes occurring in nature.•Cyclodextrins are known to improve porphyrinoids photosensitizing properties.•They can be considered as carriers for multimodal anticancer therapy.

The binding of cyclodextrins and porphyrinoids (including porphyrins, phthalocyanines and chlorins) is carried out by both covalent linking or inclusion complexation. Many of the resulting structures possess intrinsic biomimetic functionality. Therefore, they have been investigated as biomimetics, which imitate some biochemical processes occurring in nature, such as carotene cleavage, cytochrome P450-mediated hydroxylation, oxygen binding by hemoglobin, or as components of multichromophoric arrays in light harvesting antenna systems. Interestingly enough, cyclodextrins improve porphyrinoids photosensitizing properties by increasing the values of singlet oxygen generation quantum yield which is of immense value for applications in photodynamic therapy. Noteworthy is the great potential for medical applications, revealed recently in the construction of sophisticated systems consisting of covalently linked cyclodextrins and photosensitizers that were considered as carriers for multimodal anticancer therapy.

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