Using Light to Kill Cancer: Development of a Novel Photodynamic Therapy

Author

Alicia Hamilton Moore, Ouachita Baptist University

Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Chemistry

First Reader

Dr. Joseph Bradshaw

Second Reader

Dr. Tim Knight

Third Reader

Dr. Barbara Pemberton

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a treatment that uses special drugs called photosensitizing agents along with light to kill cancer cells. The specialized drugs only work after they have been activated or "turned on" by light. Photodynamic therapy may also be called photoradiation therapy, phototherapy, or photochemotherapy. In this research, I focused on the addition of four separate hydroxyl-amines to the unsubstituted porphyrin core, H₂TPPC. The hydroxyl-amines attached to the porphyrin core were 5- amino-1-pentanol, 2-amino-2-ethyl-1, 3-propanediol, 3-amino-propanediol, and 5-aminovaleric acid. The novel water soluble PDT agents, H₂TPP-A50H, H₂TPP-2ET, H₂TPP-3NH, and H₂TPP-5AV, which were synthesized and purified, was structurally characterized by infrared spectroscopy (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), and UV-vis spectroscopy. The purity of the compounds were confirmed through analyzing using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Finally, the cytotoxicity of the novel PDT porphyrins were determined in the presence and absence of light using MTT assay on MDA-MB-231 triple negative breast cancer cells and Ewing's Sarcoma cells.

Creative Commons License

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Recommended Citation

Moore, Alicia Hamilton, "Using Light to Kill Cancer: Development of a Novel Photodynamic Therapy" (2018). Honors Theses. 638.
https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/honors_theses/638