In the present research, a new type of biomimetic material loaded with chlorophyll derivatives (CpDs) for photodynamic therapy based on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) was fabricated by the electrospinning method. Such matrices showed great potential for the advanced delivery of photodynamic therapeutic reagents to targeted regions and options for prolonged local application. The key morphological characteristics of fibrous materials were investigated. It was found that incorporation of CpDs leads to a change in the average fiber diameter from 3.5 µm to 2.1 µm, increasing porosity from 80% to 90% and accompanied by an over 3-fold increased proportion of open pores. Moreover, the CpD application facilitated fine hydrophilicity tuning, allowing an increase of this parameter up to 10% under different conditions, neutralizing the hydrophobic nature of the matrix polymer and photosensitizer. Moreover, changes in physical properties, supramolecular structure, photosensitizing effect, and singlet oxygen generation were investigated. The data obtained show that the proposed materials are great examples of convenient and reliable carriers for advanced PDT. The results obtained demonstrate high antimicrobial activity in the presence of irradiation as well as noticeable efficacy against carcinoma, both light and dark.
Tyubaeva et al. (Sun,) studied this question.