Publication date: 10th April 2014
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is emerging in the clinics as an alternative therapeutic protocol to traditional cancer treatments. PDT kills cancer cells by generating reactive species upon light excitation of a prodrug (i.e. photosensitizer). Light activation allows to control spatially and temporally the effects of the treatment, decreasing systemic toxicity of anticancer agents and limiting unwanted side effects [1].
On the bases of the success of Pt(II) and Pt(IV) anticancer agents, several photoactivatable Pt(IV) anticancer agents have been developed for PDT in the last few years. However, such photoactive systems all suffer from the need of high-energy UV or visible light for activation [2], which is not ideal for in vivo applications since low tissue penetration is achieved at such wavelengths and cellular damage can be induced.
Coupling photoactivatable anticancer complexes with upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) is a promising strategy to overcome such challenging limitation. UCNPs can convert NIR light into UV-visible light, meeting metal complexes' demand for high-energy light excitation. Recently, we have demonstrated the photoactivation of Ru polypyridyls by UCNPs [3] and we are currently extending the strategy to light-sensitive Pt(IV) anticancer complexes.
In this contribution we will discuss our advances in the design of hybrid systems which combine biocompatible UCNPs with Pt(IV) prodrugs. Our efforts are ultimately aimed at developping theranostic nanoplatforms that are capable of releasing cytotoxic platinum species under NIR activation and that allow visualization via multimodal imaging methods.
[1] Garaikoetxea Arguinzoniz, A.; Ruggiero, E.; Habtemarian, A.; Hernández-Gil, J.; Salassa, L.; Mareque-Rivas, J. C. Part. Part. Syst. Charact., 2014, 1, 46.
[2] Farrer, N. J.; Salassa, L.; Sadler, P. J. Dalton Trans., 2009, 10690.
[3] Ruggiero, E.; Habtemariam, A.; Yate, L.; Mareque-Rivas, J. C.; Salassa, L. Chem. Commun., 2014, 50, 1715.
nanoGe is a prestigious brand of successful science conferences that are developed along the year in different areas of the world since 2009. Our worldwide conferences cover cutting-edge materials topics like perovskite solar cells, photovoltaics, optoelectronics, solar fuel conversion, surface science, catalysis and two-dimensional materials, among many others.
Previously nanoGe Spring Meeting (NSM) and nanoGe Fall Meeting (NFM), MATSUS is a multiple symposia conference focused on a broad set of topics of advanced materials preparation, their fundamental properties, and their applications, in fields such as renewable energy, photovoltaics, lighting, semiconductor quantum dots, 2-D materials synthesis, charge carriers dynamics, microscopy and spectroscopy semiconductors fundamentals, etc.
International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics
International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV) is celebrated yearly in May. The main topics are the development, function and modeling of materials and devices for hybrid and organic solar cells. The field is now dominated by perovskite solar cells but also other hybrid technologies, as organic solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and dye-sensitized solar cells and their integration into devices for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production.
Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics
The main topics of the Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics (IPEROP) are discussed every year in Asia-Pacific for gathering the recent advances in the fields of material preparation, modeling and fabrication of perovskite and hybrid and organic materials. Photovoltaic devices are analyzed from fundamental physics and materials properties to a broad set of applications. The conference also covers the developments of perovskite optoelectronics, including light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.
The International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO) is the best place to hear the latest developments in perovskite solar cells as well as on recent advances in the fields of perovskite light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.