The Photosensitizing Efficacy of Micelles Containing a Porphyrinic Photosensitizer and KI against Resistant Melanoma Cells

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising alternative to overcome the resistance of melanoma to conventional therapies. Currently applied photosensitizers (PS) are often based on tetrapyrrolic macrocycles like porphyrins. Unfortunately, in some cases the use of this type of derivative is limited due to their poor solubility in the biological environment. Feasible approaches to surpass this drawback are based on lipid formulations. Besides that, and inspired in the efficacy of potassium iodide (KI) for antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT), the combined effect of singlet oxygen (O-1(2)) with KI was assessed in this work, as an alternative strategy to potentiate the effect of PDT against resistant melanoma cells.

Automated summary

PDT is a promising alternative for melanoma treatment, but poor solubility of current PS limits their efficacy. This study explores an alternative strategy using lipid formulations and the combined effect of singlet oxygen and KI to enhance PDT efficacy against resistant melanoma cells.