Discovery of immunogenic cell death-inducing ruthenium-based photosensitizers for anticancer photodynamic therapy

ABSTRACT

We report a new class of ruthenium (Ru)-based photosensitizers that induce potent cytotoxicity in melanoma cells following activation with NIR light. In addition to the direct cytotoxic effect, this Ru-based photodynamic therapy induces immunogenic cell death in melanoma cells that can be therapeutically exploited to establish protective antitumor immunity.

KEYWORDS:

• Photosensitizer
• photodynamic therapy
• immunogenic cell death
• antitumor immunity

Acknowledgments

This work was supported via the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s Award R01CA222227 to S.A.M. and S.G. The content in this article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

Disclosure statement

S.A.M. has a potential research conflict of interest due to a financial interest with Theralase Technologies, Inc. and PhotoDynamic, Inc. A management plan has been created to preserve objectivity in research in accordance with UTA policy.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported via the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s Award R01CA222227.