When irradiated,
fullerene efficiently generates
reactive oxygen species (ROS) and is an attractive
photosensitizer for
photodynamic therapy (
PDT). Ideally,
photosensitizers for
PDT should be water-soluble and
tumor-specific. Because
cancer cells endocytose
glucose more effectively than normal cells, the characteristics of
fullerene as a
photosensitizer were improved by combining it with
glucose. The cytotoxicity of
PDT was studied in several
cancer cell lines cultured with C(60)-(Glc)1 (
D-glucose residue pendant
fullerene) and C(60)-(6Glc)1 (a
maltohexaose residue pendant
fullerene) subsequently irradiated with UVA(1).
PDT alone induced significant cytotoxicity. In contrast,
PDT with the glycoconjugated
fullerene exhibited no significant cytotoxicity against normal fibroblasts, indicating that
PDT with these compounds targeted
cancer cells. To investigate whether the effects of
PDT with glycoconjugated
fullerene were because of the generation of
singlet oxygen ((1)O(2)), NaN(3) was added to
cancer cells during irradiation. NaN(3) extensively blocked
PDT-induced apoptosis, suggesting that
PDT-induced cell death was a result of the generation of (1)O(2). Finally, to investigate the effect of
PDT in vivo,
melanoma-bearing mice were injected intratumorally with C(60)-(Glc)1 and irradiated with UVA(1).
PDT with C(60)-(Glc)1 suppressed
tumor growth. These findings indicate that
PDT with glycoconjugated
fullerene exhibits
tumor-specific cytotoxicity both in vivo and in vitro via the induction of (1)O(2).