Dual Role of Subphthalocyanine Dyes for Optical Imaging and Therapy of Cancer

The family of subphthalocyanine (SubPc) macrocycles represents an interesting class of nonplanar aromatic dyes with promising features for energy conversion and optoelectronics. The use of SubPcs in biomedical research is, on the contrary, clearly underexplored, despite their documented high fluorescence and singlet oxygen quantum yields. Herein, for the first time it is shown that the interaction of these chromophores with light can also be useful for theranostic applications, which in the case of SubPcs comprise optical imaging and photodynamic therapy (PDT). In particular, the article evaluates, through a complete in vitro study, the dual-role capacity of a novel series of SubPcs as fluorescent probes and PDT agents, where the macrocycle axial substitution determines their biological activity. The 2D and 3D imaging of various cancer cell lines (i.e., HeLa, SCC-13, and A431) has revealed, for example, different subcellular localization of the studied photosensitizers (PS), depending on the axial substituent they bear. These results also show excellent photocytotoxicities, which are affected by the PS localization. With the best dual-role PS, preliminary in vivo studies have demonstrated their therapeutic potential. Overall, the present paper sets the bases for an unprecedented biomedical use of these well-known optoelectronic materials.