Porphyrin-carbohydrate conjugates: Impact of carbohydrate moieties in photodynamic therapy (PDT)

In recent years, a number or review articles describing the utility of porphyrin-based compounds in photodynamic therapy have been published. 1 Currently, efforts are also underway in various laboratories to increase the tumor-specificity by developing target-specific photosensitizers. One of such attempts has been to synthesize a series of carbohydrate-porphyrin conjugates and investigate their ability to target carbohydrate-recognized proteins, which are known for their high expression in certain tumors. The present article is focused on the synthesis and biological significance of carbohydrate conjugated photosensitizers.