New stable synthetic bacteriochlorins for photodynamic therapy of melanoma

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been successfully used to treat many malignancies, and has afforded highly encouraging results in skin cancers such as basal cell carcinoma. However, pigmented melanoma remains a notable exception from the range of tumors treated by PDT largely due to the fact that melanin has high absorption of light in wavelength regions where most clinically approved photosensitizers (PS) absorb light (600-690 nm). Moreover, melanoma cells sequester exogenous molecules including photosensitizers inside melanosomes. The aforementioned drawbacks of the clinically used PS have motivated us to search for new classes of PS with improved spectral properties, such as bacteriochlorins (BC) to be used in PDT of melanoma. To overcome the PDT-resistance mechanisms of melanoma, particularly the high optical absorption of melanin, three near-infrared (NIR) absorbing synthetic stable BC were used in PDT treatment of melanoma. Dose and fluence dependent cell killing, intracellular localization (particularly in melanosomes), and correlation between the melanin level and cell death were examined. Intracellular melanosomes are ruptured after illumination as shown by electron microscopy. The best in vitro performing BC were tested upon delivery in micellar nanoparticles against a mouse pigmented melanoma. Two of the BC were effective at significantly lower concentrations (<0.5 μM) than common photosensitizers in present use.