Abstract
A 2,6-diiodo-3,5-dithienylvinyleneBODIPY dye was prepared and encapsulated with folate-chitosan capped Pluronic (R) F-127 to provide drug delivery systems for photodynamic therapy (PDT). Moderately enhanced singlet oxygen quantum yields were observed for the dye encapsulation complexes in water. The in vitro dark cytotoxicity and photodynamic activity were investigated on the human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cell line. Minimal dark cytotoxicity was observed for the BODIPY dyes in 5% DMSO and when encapsulated in folate-functionalized chitosan-coated Pluronic (R) F-127 micelles, since the cell viability values are consistently greater than 80% over the 0-40 mu g.mL(-1) concentration range. Upon irradiation of the samples, significant cytocidal activity was observed for the encapsulation complex of a 2,6-diiodo-8-dimethylaminophenyl-3,5-dithienylvinyleneBODIPY dye with less than 50% viable cells observed at concentrations >= 20 mu g.mL(-1).