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Journal of Controlled Release 93 (2003) 141 150

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Polyion complex micelles entrapping cationic dendrimer porphyrin:


$
effective photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy of cancer
Guo-Dong Zhang a,b, Atsushi Harada a,b, Nobuhiro Nishiyama a,d, Dong-Lin Jiang c,
Hiroyuki Koyama d, Takuzo Aida c, Kazunori Kataoka a,b,*
a

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
b
CREST, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, Japan
c
Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
d
Department of Clinical Vascular Regeneration, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo 113-8655, Japan
Received 15 April 2003; accepted 27 May 2003

Abstract
Photosensitizers play a crucial role in the photodynamic therapy (PDT) of cancer. In this study, a third-generation aryl ether
dendrimer porphyrin with 32 primary amine groups on the periphery, [NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn, and pH-sensitive, polyion
complex micelles (PIC) composed of the porphyrin dendrimer and PEG-b-poly(aspartic acid), were evaluated as new
photosensitizers (PSs) for PDT in the Lewis Lung Carcinoma (LLC) cell line. The preliminary photophysical characteristics of
[NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn and the corresponding micelles were investigated. Electrostatic assembly resulted in a red-shift of
the Soret peak of the porphyrin core and the enhanced fluorescence. Compared to the dendrimer porphyrin
[NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn, relatively low cellular uptake of dendrimer porphyrin [NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn
incorporated in the PIC micelle was observed, yet the latter exhibited enhanced photodynamic efficacy on the LLC cell
line. Importantly, the use of PIC micelles as a delivery system reduced the dark toxicity of the cationic dendrimer porphyrin,
probably due to the biocompatible PEG shell of the micelles.
D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Photodynamic therapy; Photosensitizer; Dendrimer porphyrin; Polyion complex micelle; Block copolymer

1. Introduction
$
Presented at 11th International Symposium on Recent
Advances in Drug Delivery Systems and CRS Winter Symposium,
Salt Lake City, UT, March 3 6, 2003.
* Corresponding author. Department of Materials Science and
Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of
Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan. Tel.:
+81-3-5841-7138; fax: +81-3-5841-7139.
E-mail address: kataoka@bmw.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp (K. Kataoka).

0168-3659/$ - see front matter D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2003.05.002

To create new photosensitizers (PSs) or their formulation plays a crucial role in the development of
photodynamic therapy (PDT). Ideal PSs should possess such characteristics as selectivity to solid tumor
tissue, and higher photocytotoxicity with lower cytotoxicity under dark conditions [1,2]. PDT of cancer
involves the systemic administration of photosensi-

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tizers to solid tumor tissue and local illumination with


light of a specific wavelength, leading to photochemical destruction of cancer cells via generation of singlet
oxygen or superoxide from molecular oxygen [3].
Since there are some drawbacks of Photofrin II, the
only PSs applied in clinical practice, including a lack
of chemical homogeneity, skin phototoxicity, and poor
selectivity for tumor tissue, exploiting the secondgeneration PSs has recently been the subject of intense
studies. However, most are hydrophobic properties,
which results in two inevitable problems: the delivery
in blood circulation and the low photophysical properties due to the aggregation of PSs, decreasing the
photo-oxidation efficacy to achieve the photodynamic
therapy.
Suitable carrier and delivery systems for PSs
should have a simple but effective strategy to realize
high selectivity, high photodynamic efficacy and
should have low side effects [4]. A variety of delivery
systems have been studied, such as polymer carriers
[5], liposomes [6,7], and bioconjugates [8 10]. On
the other hand, polymeric micelles have been intensively studied to effectively deliver drugs. They are
generally more stable when compared to surfactant
micelles with a remarkably lowered critical micellar
concentration and having a slower rate of dissociation,
resulting in prolonged circulation time in vivo. Moreover, several types of polymeric micelles with PEG
shell were demonstrated to accumulate effectively and
selectively in solid tumor. For example, block copolymer micelles incorporating doxorubicin are now in
phase I clinical trials [11,12]. Thereby, polymeric
micelles with a PEG shell should become a useful
vehicle to help photosensitizers accumulate into solid
tumor, achieving high photodynamic efficacy.
Dendrimers, three-dimensional tree-like branched
macromolecules, possess some fascinating characteristics: a well-defined structure, including very narrow
molecular weight distribution and three-dimensional
structures tuned by dendrimer generation and dendron
structure, and their flexibility for tailored functional
groups with high density on the periphery [13]. Thus,
studies of the biomedical application of dendrimers
are becoming more and more attractive, especially in
the field of non-viral gene vector and drug delivery
systems [14 17]. Taking into account the abovementioned advantages and the enhanced permeability and
retention effects (EPR) of macromolecular drugs [18],

we investigated the photodynamic efficacy of cationic


and anionic dendrimer porphyrin [19], 32(+)DPZn (32
quaternary ammonium groups on the periphery,
[ClMe3NCH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn) and 32( )DPZn
(32 carboxylate groups on the periphery, [COOH]32
DPZn), finding that the photodynamic efficiency of
the former is remarkably high compared to the latter
and protoporphyrin IX, a primitive but effective
photosensitizer [20,21]. It is worth noting that the
micelles from the pair of [COOH]32DPZn/PEG-blockpoly(L-lysine) show an appreciably higher stability
against sodium chloride concentration, probably due
to the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonding
in the core. No such salt stabilization was observed for
the micelles from the pair of [ClMe3NCH2CH2
NHCO]32DPZn with poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(aspartic acid) (PEG-b-P(Asp)) [22]. To make use of the
additional stability resulting from hydrogen bonding
in salt solution and explore a new photosensitizer with
a high efficacy for PDT, we synthesized the new
dendrimer porphyrin with 32 primary amine groups
on the periphery, [NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn, possessing the assembling behavior with PEG-b-P(Asp)
to form spherical PIC micelle [23]. The micelles
exhibited a high stability up to a 0.90 M (NaCl) salt
concentration and the pH-sensitive behavior to keep
their stability within the limited range of pH from 6.2
to 7.4 in physiological saline (0.15 M NaCl), suggesting the potential of the pH-triggered release of the
entrapped dendrimers in the acidic pH environment
(pH f 5.0) of the intracellular endosomal compartment. Both the high photodynamic efficacy of the
cationic dendrimer porphyrin 32(+)DPZn, and the
beneficial features of PIC micelle entrapping [NH2
CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn, encourage us to investigate
the possibility of [NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn and
the corresponding micelles as new photosensitizers
for photodynamic therapy of cancer.

2. Materials and methods


2.1. Materials
h-Benzyl L-aspartate (BLA) and bis(trichloromethyl) carbonate (triphosgene) were purchased from
Tokyo Kasei Kogyo, Japan. a-Methoxy-N-aminopoly(ethylene glycol) (Mw = 12 kg/mol) was a kind gift

G.-D. Zhang et al. / Journal of Controlled Release 93 (2003) 141150

from Nippon Oil and Fats, Japan. The polymer was


precipitated in diethylether from chloroform, dried
under reduced pressure and subsequently freeze-dried
from benzene prior to use in the block copolymer
synthesis. 3,5-Dihydroxybenzyl alcohol and methyl 4(bromomethyl)-benzoate were purchased from
Aldrich and used without further purification. The
protoporphyrin IX (PIX, 8,13-divinyl-3,7,12,17-tetramethyl-21H,23H-porphine-2,18-dipropionic acid)
(Aldrich Chemical, USA) was used as a control
photosensitizer in this study.
2.2. Synthesis of poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(a,baspartic acid) block copolymer
Poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(a,b-aspartic acid) block
copolymer [PEG-P(Asp)] was prepared by a previously reported procedure [24]. Briefly, PEG-b-P(Asp)
was synthesized by alkali hydrolysis of benzyl groups
of the side chain of the poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(bbenzyl-L-aspartate) block copolymer (PEG-b-PBLA,
Mw/Mn = 1.07), which was synthesized by the ringopening polymerization of BLA-NCA initiated with
the terminal primary amino group of a-methoxy-xamino poly(ethylene glycol) (Mn = 1.2193  103,
DP = 275) under an argon atmosphere in DMF [22].
From the 1H NMR spectrum in D2O, the polymerization degree of the poly(aspartic acid) segment was
determined to be 28.
2.3. Synthesis of [CF3CONHCH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn
Triethylamine(2.28  10 3 mol) was added to trifluroacetyl-1,2-ethylenediamine hydrochloride
(1.14  10 3 mol) in 3 ml of anhydrous DMF, stirred for 30 min at room temperature, and filtered to
remove the side product, triethylamine hydrochloride.
A mixture of [CO2H]32DPZn (2.54  10 6 mol), Ntrifluoroacetyl-ethylene-1,2-diamine (1.14  10 3
mol), DCC (4.88  10 3 mol), HOBt (3.25  10 3
mol) in DMF (8 ml) was stirred at room temperature
under Ar for 7 days. The solution was dialyzed against
water, then dried in vacuum and purified by column
chromatography, gradually eluting with increasing methanol to 20% methanol/CHCl 3 , giving
[CF3CONHCH 2 CH2 NHCO] 32DPZn, yield (32%).
MALDI-TOF-MS (dithranol matrix): M/z = 12448.6
(calcd. 12448.3); 1 H NMR (DMSO-d 6 , 25 jC):

143

d = 9.48 (s, 32H, NHCOCF3), 8.88 (s, 8H, pyrrole-h),


8.57 (s, 32H, NHCO), 7.81, 7.33 (both d, 128H, Ar-oH, Ar-p-H), 7.48 (s, 8H, Ar-o-H), 7.14 (s, 4H, Ar-p-H),
6.76 (d, 16H, Ar-o-H), 6.61 (d, 32H, Ar-o-H), 6.55 (s,
8H, Ar-p-H), 6.51 (s, 16H, Ar-p-H), 5.17 (s, 16H,
OCH2), 4.96 (s, 64H, OCH2), 4.91 (s, 32H, OCH2).
IR mmax (KBr Pellet): 1717.3 cm 1 (CF3CONH-),
1630.0 cm 1 (-CONH-).
2.4. Synthesis of [NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn
The resulting dendrimer [CF3CONHCH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn was dissolved in 13 ml methanol (105
mg K2CO3 and 0.9 ml water), refluxed for 3 h,
dialyzed and lyophilized to provide the title dendrimer, yield (53%). 1H NMR (DMSO-d6, 25 jC):
d = 8.81 (s, 8H, pyrrole-h), 8.50 (s, 32H, NHCO),
7.81, 7.33 (both d, 128H, Ar-o-H, Ar-p-H), 7.48 (s,
8H, Ar-o-H),7.14 (s, 4H, Ar-p-H), 6.76 (d, 16H, Ar-oH), 6.61 (d, 32H, Ar-o-H), 6.55 (s, 8H, Ar-p-H), 6.51
(s, 16H, Ar-p-H), 5.17 (s, 16H, OCH2), 4.96 (s, 64H,
OCH2), 4.91 (s, 32H, OCH2). IR mmax (KBr Pellet):
1630.0 cm 1 (-CONH-).
2.5. Preparation of PIC micelles
Given amounts of [NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn
and PEG-b-poly(Asp) were separately dissolved in
NaH2PO4 (10 mM, pH 3.0 by adding 0.01 M HCl)
and Na2HPO4 (10 mM) solution to prepare the stock
solutions, then mixed in a stoichiometric ratio, followed by dialysis against 10 mM PBS until the pH of
the micelle solution was 7.4.
2.6. Methods
The 1H NMR spectra were obtained in DMSO-d6
on a JEOL type GSX-270 spectrometer operating at
270 MHz. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization
time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (MALDI-TOF-MS)
was performed with an Applied Biosystems model
Voyager-DE STR TOF mass spectrometer using 3indolacrylic acid or dithranol as the matrix. Fluorescence measurement was performed by JASCO spectrofluorometer FP-6500 (Tokyo, Japan). UV VIS
spectroscopy was performed using a JASCO V-550
(Tokyo, Japan). The light-scattering measurements
were performed on a Photal dynamic laser scattering

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G.-D. Zhang et al. / Journal of Controlled Release 93 (2003) 141150

DLS-7000DL spectrometer (Otsuka Electronics)


equipped with an argon laser (k0 = 488 nm).
2.7. Quantitative analysis of cellular uptake of
dendrimer and micelles by LLC cells
Quantification of the amount of the dendrimer or
micelles associated with Lewis Lung Carcinoma
(LLC) cells at 37 jC was performed by utilizing the
fluorescence of the dendrimer at 609 nm (excitation at
432 nm). Following exposure to dendrimer or
micelles for 2, 6, and 12 h, the cells were washed
three times with sterile PBS, harvested and then
dissolved in 5% SDS solution prior to fluorescence
measurement (n = 3).
2.8. Photodynamic efficacy and dark toxicity of
photosensitizers in vitro
The cytotoxicity of each photosensitizers in vitro
was assessed against LLC cells. In a dark room,
different concentrations of photosensitizers in Dulbeccos modified Eagles medium (DMEM + 10% fetal
bovine serum (FBS)) were added to cells in 96-well
culture plates (n = 4). After a defined incubation time
(4 and 12 h) at 37 jC, the photosensitizers were
removed, and then plates were photoirradiated for
10 min with a broadband visible light using a Xenon
lamp (150 W) equipped with a filter passing light of
400 700 nm fluence energy: 180 kJ/cm2. The viability of photoirradiated and non-photoirradiated cells
was evaluated using mitochondrial respiration via the
3-(4,5-dimethyl thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium
bromide cleavage assay (MTT assay) following incubation for 24 h after photoirradiation or removing the
photosensitizers by washing in the case of the dark
toxicity investigation.

3. Results and discussion


3.1. Synthesis of dendrimer porphyrin and preparation of micelles
We have described the synthesis of a new dendrimer porphyrin bearing 32 primary amine groups on
the periphery by amidation of the corresponding
carboxylic acid porphyrin dendrimer with mono-pro-

Fig. 1. Chemical structure of related porphyrin dendrimers and the


synthesis route. (1) DCC, HOBt, CF3CONHCH2CH2NH2. (2)
K2CO3, methanol.

tected ethylenediamine, followed by quantitative


deprotection (Fig. 1) [23]. The perfection of dendrimer porphyrin after amidation of [COOH]32DPZn
was confirmed by MALDI-TOF-MS investigation,
shown in Fig. 2, and was achieved by two means:
exhausted reaction of carboxylic acid on the periphery
of the dendrimer porphyrin by N-trifluoro-acetylethylenediamine more than 10 times equivalent of carboxylic acid; effective purification method, including
column chromatography (SiO 2 ) and preparative
HPLC using THF as eluent.
The stoichiometric mixing of solutions of the
resulting dendrimer and PEG-b-P(Asp) resulted in
spontaneously formation of water-soluble PIC
micelles, driven by electrostatic interactions [24,25].
The resulting micelles are spherical, with a diameter
of ca. 55 nm, and a narrow size distribution (unimodal, A2/G2 < 0.09), based on dynamic light scattering

G.-D. Zhang et al. / Journal of Controlled Release 93 (2003) 141150

145

Fig. 2. MALDI-TOF-MS spectrum of the porphyrin dendrimer [CF3CONHCH2CH2NH]32DPZn, matrix: dithranol.

(DLS) measurement (Fig. 3). Interestingly, these


spherical micelles have two distinguishing features.
First, the micelles possessed extraordinary stability in
salt (NaCl) solution up to 0.90 M. Second, there is a
strict pH-dependent stability of the micelles, that is,

Fig. 3. DLS histogram of PIC micelles of [NH2CH2CH2NH]32DPZn/


PEG-b-P(Asp). At 37 jC, 150 mM NaCl, detection angle 90j.

they can remain stable in the solutions with a pH


ranging from 6.2 to 7.4, whereas a sharp structural
transition took place if the pH was beyond this region.
These two features are related to the globular structure
of the dendrimer and the unique interactions between
the rigid macroion and the poly(aspartic acid) segment
of the block copolymer [23]. The high stability of the
micelles, under physiological conditions (pH 7.4, 0.15
M NaCl) provides the possibility to avoid the leakage
of cargo from the micellar nanocarrier before they
selectively accumulate in the solid tumor tissue.
However, upon accumulating in a solid tumor, where
the local pH should be significantly lower than that of
normal tissue, or entering the acidic intracellular
endosomal compartment ( f pH 5.0) after endocytosis [26], the micelles may be easily broken down in
such complex circumstances, due to the disturbance
from a variety of charged biomacromolecules as well
as the acid-sensitive characteristics, releasing the
encapsulated dendrimer porphyrins and providing a
unique photosensitizing effect. Overall, both the high
stability in salt solution and the acid-responsive behavior of the micelle system suggested that the

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G.-D. Zhang et al. / Journal of Controlled Release 93 (2003) 141150

micelles encapsulated porphyrin dendrimer have the


high potential for tumor environment-sensitive delivery of system photosensitizers for PDT.
3.2. Photophysical characteristics of dendrimer and
the micelles
For preliminary evaluation of photosensitizers, the
UV VIS absorption and fluorescence emitting behavior of the dendrimer porphyrin and the corresponding
micelles were investigated (Fig. 4). Clearly, there are
intermolecular aggregates of dendrimer porphyrin
[NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn, as indicated by dual
Soret peaks (448.5 and 433 nm) appearing in Fig. 4A.

On the other hand the electrostatic assembly between


the cationic surface of dendrimer porphyrin and
anionic segments of PEG-b-P(ASP) exhibited the
ability to prevent the interactions of the dendrimer
porphyrins and diminish the aggregates, since the
dual Soret peaks were substituted by a sole peak
(433 nm). Moreover, the red shift (2 nm) of the Soret
peak (433 nm) of the dendrimer porphyrin, entrapped
in the core of PIC micelles, is characteristic of
electrostatic assembly of charged porphyrins and
oppositely charged compounds [27,28]. From Fig.
4B, the intensity of fluorescence of micelle solution
emitting at 610 nm was improved, compared to
[NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn under the same conditions, resulting from the microstructure of the polyion
complex micelles. First, the assembly between the
porphyrin dendrimer and the poly(aspartic acid)
segment effectively eliminated the aggregates of
dendrimer porphyrin, as shown in the UV VIS spectrum. Additionally, in the core of micelles, the higher
microviscosity significantly refrained the internal molecular motion of the dendrimer porphyrin, leading to
the inhibition of radiationless decay [29]. We will
investigate the fluorescence anisotropy and lifetime to
get detailed information of dendrimer porphyrin
entrapped in the core of PIC micelles.
3.3. Cellular uptake of dendrimer porphyrin and the
micelles in the LLC cell line

Fig. 4. UV VIS absorption (Panel A) and fluorescence emission


(Panel B) spectra of [NH2CH2CH2NH]32DPZn and the corresponding micelles in PBS solutions (pH 7.4). D, dendrimer porphyrin; M,
micelles. In Panel A, dendrimer porphyrin equivalent concentration:
12 AM. In Panel B, dendrimer porphyrin equivalent concentration
[a] = 12 AM, [b] = 6 AM.

On the basis of the fluorescence of the dendrimer


porphyrin, the time-dependent cellular uptake of
dendrimer polyphyrin and its micelles by LLC cells
at different temperatures (4 and 37 jC) was investigated based on their fluorescence (Fig. 5). In the
case of the dendrimer porphyrin alone, the initial
cellular association reached a relatively high amount
within 2 h, which is independent on the temperature,
and then increased linearly with the incubation time
at 37 jC, and the same phenomenon was also
observed in the case of 32(+)DPZn [19]. The
micelles exhibited different behavior of cellular uptake, where the initial uptake amount is very low,
and then increasing gradually with prolonged time.
During the observing time, the uptake of dendrimer
porphyrin alone was about three times greater than
that of the corresponding micelles. Similarly, the
cellular uptake of both dendrimer porphyrin and its

G.-D. Zhang et al. / Journal of Controlled Release 93 (2003) 141150

147

charge than normal cells resulting from overexpression of polysialic acid residues [32].
3.4. In vitro photodynamic effect and dark toxicity of
dendrimer and the micelles

Fig. 5. Uptake of [NH2CH2CH2NH]32DPZn and the micelles by


LLC cells as a function of time at 37 and 4 jC. Concentration of
dendrimer porphyrin equivalent in medium: 12 AM, (a) at 37 jC
in the presence of dendrimer porphyrin, (b) at 4 jC, with
dendrimer porphyrin, (c) at 37 jC with micelle, (d) at 4 jC with
micelle.

micelles is greatly diminished at 4 jC, showing the


process to be energy-dependent, suggesting that
endocytosis might be the major internalization pattern. Regarding the internalization of the dendrimer
porphyrins, both 32(+)DPZn and 32( )DPZn, endocytosis is the major pattern of internalization [19],
since both dendrimers internalized and finally
appeared to localize in endosomal compartments,
due to their colocalization with Tex-Red dextran, a
fluid-phase endocytic marker. As to cellular internalizations of polymeric micelles, recently, Luo et al.
[30] first gave direct evidence that the micelles,
consisting of rhodamine-labeled PEO45-b-PCL23
block copolymer, can be internalized into P19 cells
by endocytosis, and Kabanovs group [31] reported
that Pluronic copolymer micelles can also be internalized by an endocytotic pathway. The preliminary
results with PIC micelles entrapping dendrimer porphyrins support the abovementioned findings of
endocytotic pathway of polymeric micelles. Additionally, the initially rapid uptake of dendrimer
porphyrin seems to have resulted from the electrostatic interaction of the positive surface of dendrimer
and the plasma membrane, since the plasma membrane of mammalian cells possesses a negative
charge and tumor cells have a more negative net

The viability of LLC cells upon photoirradiation


was evaluated by MTT assay and determined as a
function of concentration and exposure time with the
photosensitizers, PIX, [NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn,
and the micelles. In this assay, photosensitizers were
incubated with LLC cells for a definite period
(4, 12 h), and then fully washed with PBS to remove
non-associated photosensitizers prior to photoirradiation. The cellular viability upon photoirradiation
indicates the photodynamic effect in vitro. Fig. 6
illustrates the photodynamic effect on the LLC cell
line, in a function of the photosensitizer concentration
and incubating time with photosensitizers, and
the photodynamic effects of different photosensitizers
are summarized in Table 1, in the form of the IC50,
defined as the concentration of photosensitizer
at which 50% of tumor cells survive after photoirradiation, calculated from Fig. 6(A,B). At 37
jC dendrimer porphyrin incorporated in micelles
had 147 and 60 times higher photodynamic efficacy than PIX after 4 or 12 h incubation, respectively. Moreover, [NH 2 CH 2 CH 2 NHCO] 32 DPZn
produced the lower photodynamic effect about one
order of magnitude compared to 32(+)DPZn [19].
When the IC50 doses of the dendrimer porphyrin
[NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn and the micelles were
normalized to the uptake amount of porphyrin dendrimer equivalent, it was found that the micelles
delivery system showed 42 and 35 times higher
normalized photodynamic efficacy than dendrimer
porphyrin alone after 4 and 12 h incubation, respectively. Apparently, the photodynamic efficacy of dendrimer porphyrin [NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn and
the PIC micelle delivery system is not only determined
by their cellular uptake, since the uptake amount of
dendrimer porphyrin alone was about three times
greater than that of the corresponding micelles.
According to the results of UV VIS investigation,
[NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn demonstrates the tendency to aggregate in physiological conditions, and
usually aggregate damages the photodynamic efficacy by lowering the yield of singlet oxygen [33,34].

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G.-D. Zhang et al. / Journal of Controlled Release 93 (2003) 141150


Table 1
The photodynamic effect (IC50, AM) of PIX, [NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32
DPZn and the micelles in the LLC cell line

Fig. 6. The photocytotoxicity against LLC cells after 4 h incubation


with PIX (square), [NH2CH2CH2NH]32DPZn (triangle) and its
micelles (circle) (Panel A) and 12 h incubation with photosensitizer
(Panel B), and the dark toxicity of PIX, [NH2CH2CH2NH]32DPZn
and its micelles after 12 h incubation (Panel C).

(h)

PIX

DPZn

Micelle

4
12

4.26
1.67

0.403
0.327

0.0289
0.0275

Importantly, the IC50 values of current micelles were


basically the same order of magnitude as that of
micelles entrapping [COOH]32DPZn [35], whereas
[NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn produced the higher
photodynamic efficacy about one order of magnitude compared to [COOH]32DPZn [35]. Thereby,
we may hypothesize that the similar micelles
brought about the same subcellular fate of dendrimer porphyrins despite opposite charges on their
surface. Interestingly, Hamblin et al. [36] recently
demonstrated that pegylation of chlorin-e6 may
increase the efficacy of photodynamic therapy, since
pegylation led to more mitochondrial localization
and mitochondria might be one of the most effective targets in photodynamic cell death, based on
the findings of the mitochondrial localization of
many photosensitizers and their early responses to
light activation [37,38].
Low dark toxicity is one of the important criteria
for assessing the usefulness of photosensitizers, since
the major side effects in clinical PDT result from the
dark toxicity of photosensitizer to normal tissue. From
Fig. 6(C), PIC micelles entrapping [NH2CH2CH2
NHCO]32DPZn was basically non-toxic at the concentration used, yet the dendrimer porphyrin alone
showed dark toxicity with approximately 85% cell
viability observed at 33 AM of [NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn. The very low toxicity of PIC micelles
might result from the good biocompatibility and low
toxicity of poly(ethylene glycol) [39]. Importantly,
PIC micelles with poly(ethylene glycol) as hydrophilic shell, possess the ability of selectively accumulating in the solid tumor tissue and long circulation in
vivo. Furthermore, those micelles usually are nanoscaled particles, with narrowly distributed size in the
range of several tens of nanometers. Therefore, the
efficient photodynamic efficacy of PIC micelles
entrapping dendrimer porphyrin, together with the
abovementioned advantages, make this type of photosensitizer formulation potentially very useful for
clinical application.

G.-D. Zhang et al. / Journal of Controlled Release 93 (2003) 141150

4. Conclusion
In conclusion, nanocarriers consisting of polyion
complex micelles, composed of PEG-b-P(Asp)
and the nano-scaled dendrimer porphyrin
[NH2CH2CH2NHCO]32DPZn, could effectively deliver dendrimer porphyrin photosensitizers into
cancer cells and produce enhanced photodynamic
efficacy, over cationic dendrimer porphyrin and
PIX. Importantly, the PIC micelle formulation
exhibited no dark toxicity within the concentration
used. It is expected that this promising nanocarrier
of PIC micelles can be practical for encapsulation
of other ionic photosensitizers, especially for
phthalocyanine derivatives, typical second-generation photosensitizers.

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Core Research for
Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST), Japan
Science and Technology (JST), and by a Grant-in-aid
for Scientific Research, as well as by Special
Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and
Technology, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology, Japan (MEXT).

[14]

[15]

[16]

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