Development of Photosensitive Doxorubicin-Fe3+-Gallic Acid Nanoparticle Structure for Targeted Cancer Therapy

Abstract Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a medically recognized method with selective cytotoxic activity against cancer cells. In PDT, photosensitizer (PS) drugs produce singlet oxygen (¹O₂) that causes cell death when activated by light. One of the drug groups that has recently become prominent in cancer therapy studies is coordination polymer-based nanoparticles (CPNs). Gallic acid (GA) has strong antioxidant, antimutagenic, anticancer and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, it has very high biocompatibility and can be easily absorbed by the human body. For this reason, it is widely applied for antitumor or anticancer treatments. Therefore, gallic acid is a promising natural polyphenolic compound for PDT applications. In addition, iron (Fe³⁺) element is a metal widely applied in cancer treatment. Accordingly, a nano-sized CPN structure to be formed with GA and Fe³⁺ is expected to be an effective FS in cancer treatment applications with PDT. In this study, Fe³⁺-GA nanoparticle material synthesis was carried out as a CPN structure. GA and Fe⁺ ³ were selected as organic ligands and inorganic crosslinkers, respectively. Here, Fe⁺ ³-GA nanoparticles were first synthesized and then doxorubicin (DOX) was attached to the structure to obtain Fe³⁺-GA-DOX nanoplatforms. This obtained nanoplatform was verified by UV-Vis, FT-IR and TEM measurements. UV spectrum result was taken for PDT studies and LED light source design was carried out. LED light source was designed as 455 ± 10 nm. After determining the toxicity of the obtained nanoparticle structure in healthy (HUVEC) and cancerous (MCF-7) cell lines, PDT studies were started and it was determined that the obtained nanoparticle structure reduced cell viability depending on the dose increase in the cancerous cell line without harming the healthy cell line (p < 0.01**). The effective GA-Fe³⁺-DOX doses were determined as 70, 75 and 80 µg/ml (p < 0.01**). At these determined doses, power densities of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 J/cm² were applied and the most effective dose and power densities were determined as 80 µg/ml and 20J/cm², respectively, according to increasing power densities.