Photochemical and in vitro phototoxic properties of Zn (II) phthalocyanine bearing piperidinium groups on different cell lines

Abstract

In present work, the photochemical effects (singlet oxygen quantum yield (ΦΔ) and photodegradation quantum yield (Φd)) of the peripherally tetra 4-(3-(piperidinium-1-ylmethyl)phenoxy substituted zinc(II) phthalocyanine (Zn6a) were investigated spectrophotometrically. Afterwards, the cytotoxic and phototoxic properties of Zn6a were investigated on human lung adenocarcinoma (A549), colorectal carcinoma (HCT-116) and human keratinocytes (HaCaT) healthy cell lines using (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) to determine the PDT potential of the compound. The ΦΔ and Φd of Zn6a were determined as 0.69 and 3.62 × 10−5in DMSO. The results of cytotoxicity showed that Zn6a had low cytotoxic effects on A549, HCT-116 and HaCaT cell lines after 24 h. In the presence of light irradiation, the viabilities of A549 were 36 ± 5.50% and 17 ± 1.40%, respectively at 5 and 10 μM. In addition, the cell viabilities were 43 ± 4.40% and 28 ± 1.70%, respectively at same concentrations of Zn6a against HCT-116 cells. The results showed that the difference in cell viabilities between irradiation and non-irradiation cells were statistically significant aganist A549 and HCT-116 cell lines. The results showed that Zn6a had low phototoxic properties on healthy cells whilst it had high phototoxicity on A549 and HCT-116 carcinoma cell lines, showing that the compound had a promising photosensitizer agent for PDT.