Nanoparticle-Mediated Photodynamic Therapy Applications

Nanoparticle-mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT) harnesses light-activated materials to generate cytotoxic reactive oxygen species within diseased tissue, offering high spatial precision and minimal invasiveness. By integrating photosensitising agents into or onto nano-scale carriers, these platforms address limitations of traditional photosensitisers such as poor solubility, rapid clearance and limited tissue penetration. Metallic and inorganic nanoparticles exploit surface plasmon resonances to amplify local electromagnetic fields, boosting singlet oxygen yields under visible and near-infrared illumination. Hybrid constructs combine organic photosensitisers with plasmonic cores for broadened excitation profiles, enabling deeper tumour treatment. In parallel, intrinsic nano-photosensitisers that generate singlet oxygen without attached dyes achieve extraordinarily high quantum yields. Targeting moieties, responsive coatings and size control enhance accumulation in tumours via the enhanced permeability and retention effect, while multimodal designs fuse imaging and therapeutic functions for real-time guidance. Recent advances extend activation modalities beyond light—through X-rays, microwaves and ultrasound—to treat deep-seated lesions. Collectively, these developments are expanding the scope of PDT towards multi-drug resistant cancers, immunogenic cell death and combination regimens, signalling a new era of precision photomedicine.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Investigation of copper-cysteamine nanoparticles revealed their dual role as photosensitisers and radiosensitisers. Activation by light or X-ray produces singlet oxygen, inducing apoptosis and autophagy in colorectal carcinoma cells and enhancing radiotherapy outcomes. A hybrid design of plasmonic silver nanoparticles coupled to organic photosensitisers demonstrated exceptionally broad excitation profiles, achieving high singlet oxygen production under both visible and near-infrared illumination while retaining low toxicity in the dark. This approach facilitates deep-tissue therapy and image-guided treatment. Multifunctional copper telluride nanocubes exhibited combined photothermal and photodynamic effects and provided photoacoustic and X-ray contrast imaging. When applied to multidrug-resistant breast cancer models, these nanocubes achieved significant anticancer activity, illustrating the power of integrating therapeutic and diagnostic modalities in a single nano-platform.

Nanoparticle-Mediated Photodynamic Therapy Applications publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in nanoparticle-mediated photodynamic therapy applications across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Photodynamic therapy: A treatment that uses light-activated compounds to produce cytotoxic reactive oxygen species at target sites.

Photosensitiser: A molecule that, upon absorption of light, transfers energy to molecular oxygen to form reactive oxygen species.

Singlet oxygen: An electronically excited form of oxygen with high reactivity, central to photodynamic cytotoxicity.

Plasmonic nanoparticles: Metal nanostructures that support surface plasmon resonances, enhancing local electromagnetic fields to boost photosensitiser performance.

Enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect: The tendency of nanoparticles to accumulate preferentially in tumour tissue due to leaky vasculature and poor lymphatic drainage.

References

1. Emerging Strategies in Enhancing Singlet Oxygen Generation of Nano-Photosensitizers Toward Advanced Phototherapy. Nano-Micro Letters (2022).
2. Inorganic Nanomaterials with Intrinsic Singlet Oxygen Generation for Photodynamic Therapy. Advanced Science (2021).
3. Investigation of Copper Cysteamine Nanoparticles as a New Type of Radiosensitiers for Colorectal Carcinoma Treatment. Scientific Reports (2017).
4. Gold Nanostars-AIE Theranostic Nanodots with Enhanced Fluorescence and Photosensitization Towards Effective Image-Guided Photodynamic Therapy. Nano-Micro Letters (2021).
5. Multifunctional Cu2−xTe Nanocubes Mediated Combination Therapy for Multi-Drug Resistant MDA MB 453. Scientific Reports (2016).
6. Plasmonic Nanoparticle-based Hybrid Photosensitizers with Broadened Excitation Profile for Photodynamic Therapy of Cancer Cells. Scientific Reports (2016).
7. Fundamentals and applications of metal nanoparticle- enhanced singlet oxygen generation for improved cancer photodynamic therapy. Frontiers in Chemistry (2022).
8. Recent developments in photodynamic therapy and its application against multidrug resistant cancers. Biomedical Materials (2023).