Search results for "Photosensitization"
showing 7 items of 7 documents
Experimental and theoretical studies on thymine photodimerization mediated by oxidatively generated DNA lesions and epigenetic intermediates.
2020
[EN] Interaction of nucleic acids with light is a scientific question of paramount relevance not only in the understanding of life functioning and evolution, but also in the insurgence of diseases such as malignant skin cancer and in the development of biomarkers and novel light-assisted therapeutic tools. This work shows that the UVA portion of sunlight, not absorbed by canonical DNA nucleobases, can be absorbed by 5-formyluracil (ForU) and 5-formylcytosine (ForC), two ubiquitous oxidatively generated lesions and epigenetic intermediates present in living beings in natural conditions. We measure the strong propensity of these molecules to populate triplet excited states able to transfer th…
Intra- and extra-cellular DNA damage by harmine and 9-methyl-harmine
2014
It is known that b-carbolines are able to produce photosensitized damage in cell-free DNA, but there is little information on their effects on cellular DNA. Therefore, we have analyzed the DNA damage produced by harmine and 9-methyl-harmine under UVA irradiation in V79 cells, together with the associated generation of micronuclei and photocytotoxicity. The results indicate that the most frequent photoproducts generated in the cellular DNA are modified purines such as 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine. Only relatively few single-strand breaks were observed. CPDs were absent, although they were generated in cell-free DNA irradiated under the same conditions. The overall extent of DNA damage in the cel…
Sulfur Dioxide Oxidation Catalyzed by Photosensitized Ytterbium Diphthalocyanine
2008
Oxidation of SO2 into SO3 was found effectively catalyzed by photosensitized ytterbium diphthalocyanine, YbPc2 (Pc = phthalocyanine ligand, C32H16N8) when performed in air-saturated dimethylformamide (DMF) solution at 20 °C. The process follows according to a multi-step complex mechanism involving chemical induction as its driving force. Excitation energy of the sandwich molecular system in YbPc2 is used to promote the reaction by creating a reactive intermediate form of the ytterbium complex hosting up to eight SO2 molecules. The conversion of SO2 proved complete.
Resolving the Benzophenone DNA-Photosensitization Mechanism at QM/MM Level
2015
International audience; Benzophenone, the parent of the diarylketone family, is a versatile compound commonly used as a UV blocker. It may also trigger triplet-based DNA photosensitization. Therefore, benzophenone is involved in DNA photodamage induction. In the absence of experimentally resolved structure, the mechanism of DNA damage production remains elusive. Employing a hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics approach, here we address the spin transfer mechanism between this drug and proximal thymine, that is, the DNA nucleobase most prone to suffer triplet damages.
Mechanisms of DNA damage by photoexcited 9-methyl-β-carbolines
2013
It has been well documented that β-carboline alkaloids, particularly the 9-methyl derivatives, are efficient photosensitizers. However, structure–activity relationships are missing and the photochemical mechanisms involved in the DNA photodamage still remain unknown. In the present work, we examined the capability of three 9-methyl-β-carbolines (9-methyl-norharmane, 9-methyl-harmane and 9-methylharmine) to induce DNA damage upon UVA excitation at physiological pH. The type and extent of the damage was analyzed together with the photophysical and binding properties of the β-carboline derivatives investigated. The results indicate that even at neutral pH most of the DNA damage is generated fr…
Albumin-Folate Conjugates for Drug-targeting in Photodynamic Therapy.
2016
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is based on the cytotoxicity of photosensitizers in the presence of light. Increased selectivity and effectivity of the treatment is expected if a specific uptake of the photosensitizers into the target cells, often tumor cells, can be achieved. An attractive transporter for that purpose is the folic acid receptor α (FRα), which is overexpressed on the surface of many tumor cells and mediates an endocytotic uptake. Here, we describe the synthesis and photobiological characterization of polar β-carboline derivatives as photosensitizers covalently linked to folate-tagged albumin as the carrier system. The particles were taken up by KB (human carcinoma) cells within …
DNA Oxidation Photoinduced by Norharmane Rhenium(I) Polypyridyl Complexes: Effect of the Bidentate N,N′-Ligands on the Damage Profile
2018
Re(I)--polypyridyl complexes have interesting and distinctive photochemical and photosensitizing properties. This work describes the capability to induce (or photoinduce) DNA damage of three Re(I)-complexes with a naturally occurring alkaloid called norharmane (nHo) as ligand: [Re(CO)₃ (nHo)(L)]CF₃ SO₃ where L=2,2'-bipyridine (ReBpy), phenanthroline (RePhen) or dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine (ReDppz). The interaction of the complexes with DNA was investigated by steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy. Data show that the mode and strength of interaction depend on the chemical structure of the bidentate ligand. The complexes show a major static contribution to the overall interaction, …