Current Trends in Pyrrole and Porphyrin-Derived Nanoscale Materials for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

This article is written to provide an up-to-date review of pyrrole-based biomedical materials. Porphyrins and other tetrapyrrolic molecules possess unique magnetic, optical and other photophysical properties that make them useful for bioimaging and therapy. This review touches briefly on some of the synthetic strategies to obtain porphyrin- and tetrapyrrole-based nanoparticles, as well as the variety of applications in which crosslinked, self-assembled, porphyrin-coated and other nanoparticles are utilized. We explore examples of these nanoparticles’ applications in photothermal therapy, drug delivery, photodynamic therapy, stimuli response, fluorescence imaging, photoacoustic imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography and positron emission tomography. We anticipate that this review will provide a comprehensive summary of pyrrole-derived nanoparticles and provide a guideline for their further development.

Lay abstract

Nanoparticles are very small particles that are less than a fraction of the thickness of a strand of hair. These particles can be used as contrast agents (e.g., for use in a computerized axial tomography [CAT] scan) or to help deliver treatment directly to a tumor. This is a review article that explores the biomedical applications of nanoparticles formed from chemicals known as tetrapyrroles, that are often found in nature. Tetrapyrroles have many characteristics that allow them to provide good image contrast and therapeutic benefits. In this review, we discuss some characteristics of tetrapyrroles and examples of tetrapyrrole nanoparticles in a variety of biomedical applications.

Keywords::

• bioimaging
• carbon dots
• drug delivery
• nanoparticles
• porphyrin
• porphysomes
• tetrapyrroles
• theranostic

Supplementary data

To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at: www.tandfonline.com/doi/suppl/nnm-2020-0125

Author contributions

P Fathi and D Pan contributed to conceptualization and writing of the review article.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was funded through grants from National Institute of Health (R03EB028026) and University of Illinois. This work was also supported by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering R03EB028026 of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number T32EB019944. P Fathi was supported by the National Physical Science Consortium and the National Institute of Standards & Technology through an NPSC graduate fellowship and by the Nadine Barrie Smith Memorial Fellowship from the Beckman Institute. D Pan is the founder/co-founder of three university-based start-ups. None of these entities, however, supported this work. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded through grants from National Institute of Health (R03EB028026) and University of Illinois. This work was also supported by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering R03EB028026 of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number T32EB019944. P Fathi was supported by the National Physical Science Consortium and the National Institute of Standards & Technology through an NPSC graduate fellowship and by the Nadine Barrie Smith Memorial Fellowship from the Beckman Institute. D Pan is the founder/co-founder of three university-based start-ups. None of these entities, however, supported this work. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.