Recent Approaches towards the Development of Novel Agents for Photodynamic Therapy

Dear Colleagues,

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a well-established, non-invasive clinical technology based on the combination of three components, namely a photosensitizer (PS), light and molecular oxygen. An important attribute of PDT is that toxicity is confined to regions where the three components overlap spatiotemporally. However, PDT is less efficient in the hypoxic microenvironment due to the consumption of molecular oxygen by the PS, leading to PDT resistance. As a consequence, the photodamage is reduced or even no PDT effect occurs at all when the oxygen concentration in the medium is not high enough. In addition, most PSs are photoactivated with short wavelengths of light, which are difficult to access in deep-seated hypoxic environments.

The journal Molecules invites both reviews and original articles that shed light on the challenges and opportunities of the development of innovative solutions for photodynamic therapy.

Dr. Albert Gandioso
Dr. Massimo La Deda
Guest Editors

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