An Efficient Rose Bengal Based Nanoplatform for Photodynamic Therapy

Organically modified mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) containing rose bengal (RB), a xanthene dye, were successfully synthesized. RB-modified MSNs have shown a relevant photostability and a high efficiency in the photoproduction and delivery of singlet oxygen (O-1(2)), which is particularly promising for photodynamic therapy (PDT) applications. In vitro tests have evidenced that RB-MSNs are able to reduce cell proliferation in one of the most aggressive skin cancer types (SK-MEL-28) after green-light irradiation.