Dr. Melanie Timpel “Hybrid nanomaterials in photodynamic therapy

PhD Program in Biomolecular Medicine
ANNUNCIO DI SEMINARIO
mercoledì 13 aprile 2016
ore 14:30
Aula di Chimica Biologica
Istituti Biologici
Dr. Melanie Timpel
Istituto dei Materiali per l'Elettronica
ed il Magnetismo
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Trento
“Hybrid nanomaterials in
photodynamic therapy of cancer”
Il seminario e’ aperto a tutti gli interessati. La partecipazione e’ riconosciuta
con un credito.
Informazioni: Daniele Dell’Orco ([email protected])
Abstract
Future progress in photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer treatment
demands the effective and site-specific generation of anti-cancer active
species, such as singlet oxygen, by light-irradiated photosensitizers.
Established photosensitizers have reached their intrinsic limits concerning
activation by light, due to limited penetration of visible light into tissue. Hybrid
materials combining the strengths of their constituents offer the possibility to
overcome currently existing restrictions. The goal of the present study is the
exploration of novel hybrid inorganic/organic photosensitizers that allow
efficient energy transfer from the inorganic to the organic counterpart, thus
potentially enhancing the production of highly reactive singlet oxygen.
Different to conventional PDT, the nanohybrid photosensitizer can be
activated by X-rays, which represents an irradiation source with the ability to
completely penetrate through the human body and to treat wide tumor areas.
After an introduction of the basic principles of PDT, two methods for stable
functionalization of inorganic SiC/SiOx core/shell nanowires using porphyrin
derivatives (in vacuum and in solution) will be presented. Moreover, the
investigation of the optical properties of the hybrid nanosystems and the
possibility to exploit them as a source of singlet oxygen generation will be
summarized.
Achieving a comprehensive knowledge of the physical/chemical processes
leading to the observed final singlet oxygen production will play a central role
in our future investigations. To this end, synchrotron-related techniques such
as X-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL), will help us to optimize the
fabrication of these hybrid nanomaterials and to control their
photoluminescence properties.
*Email: [email protected]