Enhancement of the in vitro anticancer photo-sonodynamic combination therapy activity of cationic thiazole-phthalocyanines using gold and silver nanoparticles

Abstract

This work explores the effects of gold and silver nanoparticles on the in vitro anticancer photo and sono-dynamic therapy (PDT and SDT) and the combination (PSDT) therapy activity of cationic thiazole-phthalocyanines (Pcs). The generation of 1O2 and [rad]OH were determined for the Pcs and their respective nanoparticle conjugates. An increase in the 1O2 generation of the Pcs was observed upon conjugation to nanoparticles. For PSDT, higher 1O2 yields compared to both PDT and SDT, and higher [rad]OH yields compared to SDT were observed for all test samples. The in vitro cell studies were carried out using the Michigan Foundation-7 cancer cell lines. A decrease in the cell survival for cells treated with the Pcs, nanoparticles and conjugates were observed for SDT and PSDT with increasing concentrations. The conjugation of the Pcs to the gold nanoparticles resulted in higher activity compared to those conjugated to silver nanoparticles. Additionally, the PSDT showed increased anticancer activity compared to the PDT and SDT monotherapies.