Multifunctional Hybrid Nanoparticles for Photodynamic Therapy and Diagnosis

Dear Colleagues,

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has evolved over the last century and has become a widely used medical tool having gained regulatory approval for the treatment of various diseases, such as cancer and macular degeneration. PDT is based on the activation of photosensitizers (PSs), which results in energy transfer cascades that ultimately yield cytotoxic reactive oxygen species that can render cell death. Although conventional organic PSs are still widely used in PDT, their disadvantages such as hydrophobicity, poor stability, and low cell/tissue specificity largely limit their clinical applications. Therefore, nanoparticles have emerged as an attractive alternative to overcome these drawbacks of traditional PSs. Hybrid nanoparticles designed with both inorganic and organic components have attracted significant attention in recent decades because they not only retain the beneficial features of both components but also gain additional synergistic performance. Hybrid nanomaterials containing gold, silver, silica, quantum dots, silicon, upconversion, or carbon-based nanoparticles as the core component can be modified in a modular fashion to render specific properties for the resultant nanoparticles such as target specificity or biodegradability that improve the outcome of PDT. This Special Issue will gather recent developments in the synthesis, characterization, and application of hybrid nanoparticles for photodynamic therapy and diagnosis.

Dr. Juan L. Vivero-Escoto
Guest Editor

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