A Detailed Study of the Antimicrobial and Antitumor Activity of ABAB- and A4-Type Cationic Porphyrins in Free or Polymeric Forms

This work describes the synthesis of new cationic ABAB- and A4-type porphyrins for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of infectious disease and malignant tumors. Pluronic F127 has been chosen as a delivery vehicle for monomolecular photoactive forms of the porphyrins. The use of Pluronic F127 as a drug delivery system for compounds resulted in a 10–70-fold increase in photoinduced nanomolar toxicity compared to the free porphyrin as well as a high IC50 dark/IC50 light ratio of ∼1800 for one of the compounds. Microbiological studies showed inhibitory properties against S. aureus (strain 209-P) for all the tested compounds. MIC and effective concentrations (>2 × MIC) were determined. A positive effect of irradiation on the antimicrobial properties of porphyrins in both free and polymeric forms was established. The influence of porphyrins on the cell wall was determined using LSCM and SEM microscopy. The synthesized compounds are highly effective photosensitizers for both antimicrobial and antitumor photodynamic therapy.