Faculty Dr Balaji Babu

Dr Balaji Babu

Assistant Professor

Department of Chemistry

Contact Details

balaji.b@srmap.edu.in

Office Location

Education

2015
PhD
Indian Institute of Science (IISC)
2009
MSc
College of Engineering (Guindy Campus), Anna University – Chennai
2007
BSc
Presidency College

Personal Website

Experience

  • Oct 2020 to Jun 2021 – Postdoctoral fellow – Rhodes University, South Africa.
  • Sep 2019 to Sep 2020 – Postdoctoral fellow – Rhodes University, South Africa.
  • May 2017 to May 2019 – Postdoctoral fellow – Rhodes University, South Africa.
  • Sep 2016 to May 2017 – Assistant Professor – PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore.
  • Jul 2015 to Sep 2016 – Assistant Professor (contract) – Gandhigram Rural Institute, Dindigul.
  • Jul 2014 to Jul 2015 – Research Associate – Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bengaluru.

Research Interest

  • Design and synthesis of novel porphyrin and other macrocyclic photosensitizers for its potential application in near-IR activated photodynamic therapy (PDT).
  • Ferrocene-baseded molecules for biomedical and chemical sensing applications.

Memberships

Publications

  • Photodynamic anticancer and antibacterial properties of a series of Sn(IV) tetraarylporphyrins

    Soy R C., Mack J., Nyokong T

    Journal, Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines, 2024, Quartile: Q3, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    A series of Sn(IV) porphyrins with 4-methoxy-(1-SnPor), 3-methoxy-(2-SnPor), 4-hydroxy-(3-SnPor) and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl (4-SnPor) meso-aryl rings have been synthesized and characterized. 1-4-SnPor have relatively high singlet oxygen quantum yields in the 0.65-0.68 range in DMSO due to the heavy atom effect of the Sn(IV) ion. The lowest energy Q bands of the complexes lie at 612, 602, 615 and 620 nm, respectively. In the context of 4-SnPor, this represents an 18 nm red shift relative to the spectra of Sn(IV) tetraphenylporphyrin and 2-SnPor, which has methoxy groups at a meta-position. The in vitro photodynamic therapy (PDT) activities of 1-4-SnPor were determined against MCF-7 breast cancer cells through illumination for 20 min with a Thorlabs M625L3 (240 mW.cm-2) light emitting diode (LED) that has an output maximum at 625 nm and a Modulight illumination kit providing a dose of 1.7 J.cm-2 at the well-plate. The IC50 value of 7.1 ?M for 4-SnPor is significantly lower than the values of 14.7, 16.5 and 11.2 ?M for 1-3-SnPor, respectively, due to the significant red shift of its Q00 band that results in a better match with the output maximum of the LED. 1-4-SnPor were found to have relatively high photodynamic antimicrobial activity against planktonic Gram-(+) Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and exhibited moderate activity against Gram-(-) Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria upon illumination with the Thorlabs M625L3 LED for 75 min providing a dose of 6.5 J.cm-2 at the well-plate. Log10 reduction values of 7.62 and > 2.40-2.94 were obtained with 1 and 5 ?M solutions in 1% DMSO/PBS, respectively. The photodynamic antimicrobial activities were also investigated against S. aureus and E. coli biofilms. © 2024 World Scientific Publishing Company.
  • The photodynamic activity properties of a series of structurally analogous tetraarylporphyrin, chlorin and N-confused porphyrin dyes and their Sn(IV) complexes

    Rodah Soy., John Mack., Tebello Nyokong

    Journal, Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy, 2023, Quartile: Q1, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    A series of tetraarylporphyrin, -chlorin and N-confused porphyrin dyes with 4?methoxy? meso -aryl rings ( 1 -Por, 1 -Chl and 1 -NCP) and their Sn(IV) complexes ( 1 -SnPor, 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP) have been synthesized and characterized. The heavy atom effect of the Sn(IV) ion results in relatively high singlet oxygen quantum yield values of 0.67, 0.71 and 0.85 for 1 -SnPor, 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP, respectively. The photodynamic activities of 1 -Por, 1 -Chl, 1 -NCP, 1 -SnPor, 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP were determined against MCF-7 breast cancer cells through illumination with Thorlabs 625 or 660 nm (240 or 280 mW.cm ?2 ) light emitting diodes (LEDs) for 20 min. The IC 50 values for 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP lie between 1.4 ? 6.1 and 1.6 ? 4.8 µM upon photoirradiation with the 660 and 625 nm LEDs, respectively, while higher values of >10 µM were obtained for 1 -SnPor and the free base dyes. In a similar manner, 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP were found to also have significantly higher photodynamic antimicrobial activity against planktonic Gram-(+) Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-(?) Escherichia coli bacteria than the other dyes studied. Upon illumination with Thorlabs 625 and 660 nm LEDs for 75 min, Log 10 reduction values of 7.62 and > 2.40?3.69 were obtained with 1 and 5 µM solutions, respectively.
  • Photodynamic Anticancer and Antibacterial Activities of Sn(IV) N-Confused Meso-tetra(methylthiophenyl)porphyrin

    Somila Dingiswayo., Kristen Burgess., John Mack., Tebello Nyokong

    Journal, Photochem, 2023, Quartile: Q2, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    A Sn(IV) meso-tetra(4-methylthiolphenyl) N-confused porphyrin (4-Sn) complex was prepared to facilitate a comparison of the photophysicochemical and singlet oxygen photosensitiser properties of a series of Sn(IV) complexes of meso-4-methylthiolphenyl-substituted porphyrin, corrole, chlorin, and N-confused porphyrin. 4-Sn has an unusually high singlet oxygen quantum (?) yield of 0.88, markedly higher than the ? values of the other complexes in this series. A Thorlabs M660L4 LED (280 mW · cm) was used to study the photodynamic activity of Sn-4 against the MCF-7 cancer cell line through irradiation at 660 nm for 30 min. The IC value was calculated to be 1.4 (± 0.8) µM, markedly lower than the previously reported values for the rest of the series. Photodynamic antimicrobial activity was also determined against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, and 4-Sn was found to deactivate both Gram-(+) and Gram-(?) bacteria despite the absence of cationic charges on the ligand structure.
  • The Photodynamic Anticancer and Antibacterial Activity Properties of a Series of meso-Tetraarylchlorin Dyes and Their Sn(IV) Complexes

    Rodah Soy., John Mack., Tebello Nyokong

    Journal, Molecules, 2023, Quartile: Q1, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    A series of tetraarylchlorins with 3-methoxy-, 4-hydroxy- and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl meso-aryl rings (1-3-Chl) and their Sn(IV) complexes (1-3-SnChl) were synthesized and characterized so that their potential utility as photosensitizer dyes for use in photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) can be assessed. The photophysicochemical properties of the dyes were assessed prior to in vitro PDT activity studies against MCF-7 breast cancer cells through irradiation with Thorlabs 625 or 660 nm LED for 20 min (240 or 280 mW·cm). PACT activity studies were performed against both planktonic bacteria and biofilms of Gram-(+) S. aureus and Gram-(?) E. coli upon irradiation with Thorlabs 625 and 660 nm LEDs for 75 min. The heavy atom effect of the Sn(IV) ion results in relatively high singlet oxygen quantum yield values of 0.69?0.71 for 1-3-SnChl. Relatively low IC values between 1.1?4.1 and 3.8?9.4 µM were obtained for the 1-3-SnChl series with the Thorlabs 660 and 625 nm LEDs, respectively, during the PDT activity studies. 1-3-SnChl were also found to exhibit significant PACT activity against planktonic S. aureus and E. coli with Log reduction values of 7.65 and >3.0, respectively. The results demonstrate that the Sn(IV) complexes of tetraarylchlorins merit further in depth study as photosensitizers in biomedical applications.
  • Sn(iv)-porphyrinoids for photodynamic anticancer and antimicrobial chemotherapy

    Tebello Nyokong., John Mack

    Journal, Dalton Transactions, 2023, Quartile: Q2, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a mode of treatment for different types of cancers, which involves a nontoxic photosensitizer (PS), a light source to activate the PS, and ground-state molecular oxygen (O). Light activation of the PS leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which initiates a toxic effect on the surrounding cellular substrates, thereby destroying the cancerous cells. The commercially used PDT drug Photofrin which is a tetrapyrrolic porphyrin-based photosensitizer has drawbacks such as aggregation in water, prolonged skin photosensitivity, variability in chemical compositions, and minimal absorbance in the red-light region. Metallation of the porphyrin core with diamagnetic metal ions aids the photogeneration of singlet oxygen (ROS). Metalating with Sn(iv) provides a six-coordination octahedral geometry with trans-diaxial ligands. This approach suppresses aggregation in aqueous media and increases ROS generation upon light exposure due to the heavy atom effect. Bulky trans-diaxial ligation hinders the approach of the Sn(iv) porphyrins, thereby suppressing aggregation effects. In this review, we document the recently reported Sn(iv) porphyrinoids and their photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) activity properties. In a similar manner to PDT, the photosensitizer is used to kill the bacteria upon irradiation with light during PACT. Often, bacteria develop resistance against conventional chemotherapeutic drugs over time, decreasing their antibacterial properties. However, in the case of PACT, it is difficult to generate resistance against singlet oxygen produced by the photosensitizer.

Patents

Projects

Scholars

Doctoral Scholars

  • Jotiba Pandurang Powar
  • Ms Gayathri M P

Interests

  • Ferrocene conjugates
  • N-Confused porphyrin Corrole Chlorin
  • Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT)
  • Porphyrinoids – Porphyrin

Thought Leaderships

There are no Thought Leaderships associated with this faculty.

Top Achievements

Research Area

No research areas found for this faculty.

Recent Updates

No recent updates found.

Education
2007
BSc
Presidency College
2009
MSc
College of Engineering (Guindy Campus), Anna University – Chennai
2015
PhD
Indian Institute of Science (IISC)
Experience
  • Oct 2020 to Jun 2021 – Postdoctoral fellow – Rhodes University, South Africa.
  • Sep 2019 to Sep 2020 – Postdoctoral fellow – Rhodes University, South Africa.
  • May 2017 to May 2019 – Postdoctoral fellow – Rhodes University, South Africa.
  • Sep 2016 to May 2017 – Assistant Professor – PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore.
  • Jul 2015 to Sep 2016 – Assistant Professor (contract) – Gandhigram Rural Institute, Dindigul.
  • Jul 2014 to Jul 2015 – Research Associate – Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bengaluru.
Research Interests
  • Design and synthesis of novel porphyrin and other macrocyclic photosensitizers for its potential application in near-IR activated photodynamic therapy (PDT).
  • Ferrocene-baseded molecules for biomedical and chemical sensing applications.
Awards & Fellowships
Memberships
Publications
  • Photodynamic anticancer and antibacterial properties of a series of Sn(IV) tetraarylporphyrins

    Soy R C., Mack J., Nyokong T

    Journal, Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines, 2024, Quartile: Q3, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    A series of Sn(IV) porphyrins with 4-methoxy-(1-SnPor), 3-methoxy-(2-SnPor), 4-hydroxy-(3-SnPor) and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl (4-SnPor) meso-aryl rings have been synthesized and characterized. 1-4-SnPor have relatively high singlet oxygen quantum yields in the 0.65-0.68 range in DMSO due to the heavy atom effect of the Sn(IV) ion. The lowest energy Q bands of the complexes lie at 612, 602, 615 and 620 nm, respectively. In the context of 4-SnPor, this represents an 18 nm red shift relative to the spectra of Sn(IV) tetraphenylporphyrin and 2-SnPor, which has methoxy groups at a meta-position. The in vitro photodynamic therapy (PDT) activities of 1-4-SnPor were determined against MCF-7 breast cancer cells through illumination for 20 min with a Thorlabs M625L3 (240 mW.cm-2) light emitting diode (LED) that has an output maximum at 625 nm and a Modulight illumination kit providing a dose of 1.7 J.cm-2 at the well-plate. The IC50 value of 7.1 ?M for 4-SnPor is significantly lower than the values of 14.7, 16.5 and 11.2 ?M for 1-3-SnPor, respectively, due to the significant red shift of its Q00 band that results in a better match with the output maximum of the LED. 1-4-SnPor were found to have relatively high photodynamic antimicrobial activity against planktonic Gram-(+) Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and exhibited moderate activity against Gram-(-) Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria upon illumination with the Thorlabs M625L3 LED for 75 min providing a dose of 6.5 J.cm-2 at the well-plate. Log10 reduction values of 7.62 and > 2.40-2.94 were obtained with 1 and 5 ?M solutions in 1% DMSO/PBS, respectively. The photodynamic antimicrobial activities were also investigated against S. aureus and E. coli biofilms. © 2024 World Scientific Publishing Company.
  • The photodynamic activity properties of a series of structurally analogous tetraarylporphyrin, chlorin and N-confused porphyrin dyes and their Sn(IV) complexes

    Rodah Soy., John Mack., Tebello Nyokong

    Journal, Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy, 2023, Quartile: Q1, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    A series of tetraarylporphyrin, -chlorin and N-confused porphyrin dyes with 4?methoxy? meso -aryl rings ( 1 -Por, 1 -Chl and 1 -NCP) and their Sn(IV) complexes ( 1 -SnPor, 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP) have been synthesized and characterized. The heavy atom effect of the Sn(IV) ion results in relatively high singlet oxygen quantum yield values of 0.67, 0.71 and 0.85 for 1 -SnPor, 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP, respectively. The photodynamic activities of 1 -Por, 1 -Chl, 1 -NCP, 1 -SnPor, 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP were determined against MCF-7 breast cancer cells through illumination with Thorlabs 625 or 660 nm (240 or 280 mW.cm ?2 ) light emitting diodes (LEDs) for 20 min. The IC 50 values for 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP lie between 1.4 ? 6.1 and 1.6 ? 4.8 µM upon photoirradiation with the 660 and 625 nm LEDs, respectively, while higher values of >10 µM were obtained for 1 -SnPor and the free base dyes. In a similar manner, 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP were found to also have significantly higher photodynamic antimicrobial activity against planktonic Gram-(+) Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-(?) Escherichia coli bacteria than the other dyes studied. Upon illumination with Thorlabs 625 and 660 nm LEDs for 75 min, Log 10 reduction values of 7.62 and > 2.40?3.69 were obtained with 1 and 5 µM solutions, respectively.
  • Photodynamic Anticancer and Antibacterial Activities of Sn(IV) N-Confused Meso-tetra(methylthiophenyl)porphyrin

    Somila Dingiswayo., Kristen Burgess., John Mack., Tebello Nyokong

    Journal, Photochem, 2023, Quartile: Q2, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    A Sn(IV) meso-tetra(4-methylthiolphenyl) N-confused porphyrin (4-Sn) complex was prepared to facilitate a comparison of the photophysicochemical and singlet oxygen photosensitiser properties of a series of Sn(IV) complexes of meso-4-methylthiolphenyl-substituted porphyrin, corrole, chlorin, and N-confused porphyrin. 4-Sn has an unusually high singlet oxygen quantum (?) yield of 0.88, markedly higher than the ? values of the other complexes in this series. A Thorlabs M660L4 LED (280 mW · cm) was used to study the photodynamic activity of Sn-4 against the MCF-7 cancer cell line through irradiation at 660 nm for 30 min. The IC value was calculated to be 1.4 (± 0.8) µM, markedly lower than the previously reported values for the rest of the series. Photodynamic antimicrobial activity was also determined against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, and 4-Sn was found to deactivate both Gram-(+) and Gram-(?) bacteria despite the absence of cationic charges on the ligand structure.
  • The Photodynamic Anticancer and Antibacterial Activity Properties of a Series of meso-Tetraarylchlorin Dyes and Their Sn(IV) Complexes

    Rodah Soy., John Mack., Tebello Nyokong

    Journal, Molecules, 2023, Quartile: Q1, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    A series of tetraarylchlorins with 3-methoxy-, 4-hydroxy- and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl meso-aryl rings (1-3-Chl) and their Sn(IV) complexes (1-3-SnChl) were synthesized and characterized so that their potential utility as photosensitizer dyes for use in photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) can be assessed. The photophysicochemical properties of the dyes were assessed prior to in vitro PDT activity studies against MCF-7 breast cancer cells through irradiation with Thorlabs 625 or 660 nm LED for 20 min (240 or 280 mW·cm). PACT activity studies were performed against both planktonic bacteria and biofilms of Gram-(+) S. aureus and Gram-(?) E. coli upon irradiation with Thorlabs 625 and 660 nm LEDs for 75 min. The heavy atom effect of the Sn(IV) ion results in relatively high singlet oxygen quantum yield values of 0.69?0.71 for 1-3-SnChl. Relatively low IC values between 1.1?4.1 and 3.8?9.4 µM were obtained for the 1-3-SnChl series with the Thorlabs 660 and 625 nm LEDs, respectively, during the PDT activity studies. 1-3-SnChl were also found to exhibit significant PACT activity against planktonic S. aureus and E. coli with Log reduction values of 7.65 and >3.0, respectively. The results demonstrate that the Sn(IV) complexes of tetraarylchlorins merit further in depth study as photosensitizers in biomedical applications.
  • Sn(iv)-porphyrinoids for photodynamic anticancer and antimicrobial chemotherapy

    Tebello Nyokong., John Mack

    Journal, Dalton Transactions, 2023, Quartile: Q2, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a mode of treatment for different types of cancers, which involves a nontoxic photosensitizer (PS), a light source to activate the PS, and ground-state molecular oxygen (O). Light activation of the PS leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which initiates a toxic effect on the surrounding cellular substrates, thereby destroying the cancerous cells. The commercially used PDT drug Photofrin which is a tetrapyrrolic porphyrin-based photosensitizer has drawbacks such as aggregation in water, prolonged skin photosensitivity, variability in chemical compositions, and minimal absorbance in the red-light region. Metallation of the porphyrin core with diamagnetic metal ions aids the photogeneration of singlet oxygen (ROS). Metalating with Sn(iv) provides a six-coordination octahedral geometry with trans-diaxial ligands. This approach suppresses aggregation in aqueous media and increases ROS generation upon light exposure due to the heavy atom effect. Bulky trans-diaxial ligation hinders the approach of the Sn(iv) porphyrins, thereby suppressing aggregation effects. In this review, we document the recently reported Sn(iv) porphyrinoids and their photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) activity properties. In a similar manner to PDT, the photosensitizer is used to kill the bacteria upon irradiation with light during PACT. Often, bacteria develop resistance against conventional chemotherapeutic drugs over time, decreasing their antibacterial properties. However, in the case of PACT, it is difficult to generate resistance against singlet oxygen produced by the photosensitizer.
Contact Details

balaji.b@srmap.edu.in

Scholars

Doctoral Scholars

  • Jotiba Pandurang Powar
  • Ms Gayathri M P

Interests

  • Ferrocene conjugates
  • N-Confused porphyrin Corrole Chlorin
  • Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT)
  • Porphyrinoids – Porphyrin

Education
2007
BSc
Presidency College
2009
MSc
College of Engineering (Guindy Campus), Anna University – Chennai
2015
PhD
Indian Institute of Science (IISC)
Experience
  • Oct 2020 to Jun 2021 – Postdoctoral fellow – Rhodes University, South Africa.
  • Sep 2019 to Sep 2020 – Postdoctoral fellow – Rhodes University, South Africa.
  • May 2017 to May 2019 – Postdoctoral fellow – Rhodes University, South Africa.
  • Sep 2016 to May 2017 – Assistant Professor – PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore.
  • Jul 2015 to Sep 2016 – Assistant Professor (contract) – Gandhigram Rural Institute, Dindigul.
  • Jul 2014 to Jul 2015 – Research Associate – Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bengaluru.
Research Interests
  • Design and synthesis of novel porphyrin and other macrocyclic photosensitizers for its potential application in near-IR activated photodynamic therapy (PDT).
  • Ferrocene-baseded molecules for biomedical and chemical sensing applications.
Awards & Fellowships
Memberships
Publications
  • Photodynamic anticancer and antibacterial properties of a series of Sn(IV) tetraarylporphyrins

    Soy R C., Mack J., Nyokong T

    Journal, Journal of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines, 2024, Quartile: Q3, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    A series of Sn(IV) porphyrins with 4-methoxy-(1-SnPor), 3-methoxy-(2-SnPor), 4-hydroxy-(3-SnPor) and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl (4-SnPor) meso-aryl rings have been synthesized and characterized. 1-4-SnPor have relatively high singlet oxygen quantum yields in the 0.65-0.68 range in DMSO due to the heavy atom effect of the Sn(IV) ion. The lowest energy Q bands of the complexes lie at 612, 602, 615 and 620 nm, respectively. In the context of 4-SnPor, this represents an 18 nm red shift relative to the spectra of Sn(IV) tetraphenylporphyrin and 2-SnPor, which has methoxy groups at a meta-position. The in vitro photodynamic therapy (PDT) activities of 1-4-SnPor were determined against MCF-7 breast cancer cells through illumination for 20 min with a Thorlabs M625L3 (240 mW.cm-2) light emitting diode (LED) that has an output maximum at 625 nm and a Modulight illumination kit providing a dose of 1.7 J.cm-2 at the well-plate. The IC50 value of 7.1 ?M for 4-SnPor is significantly lower than the values of 14.7, 16.5 and 11.2 ?M for 1-3-SnPor, respectively, due to the significant red shift of its Q00 band that results in a better match with the output maximum of the LED. 1-4-SnPor were found to have relatively high photodynamic antimicrobial activity against planktonic Gram-(+) Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and exhibited moderate activity against Gram-(-) Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria upon illumination with the Thorlabs M625L3 LED for 75 min providing a dose of 6.5 J.cm-2 at the well-plate. Log10 reduction values of 7.62 and > 2.40-2.94 were obtained with 1 and 5 ?M solutions in 1% DMSO/PBS, respectively. The photodynamic antimicrobial activities were also investigated against S. aureus and E. coli biofilms. © 2024 World Scientific Publishing Company.
  • The photodynamic activity properties of a series of structurally analogous tetraarylporphyrin, chlorin and N-confused porphyrin dyes and their Sn(IV) complexes

    Rodah Soy., John Mack., Tebello Nyokong

    Journal, Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy, 2023, Quartile: Q1, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    A series of tetraarylporphyrin, -chlorin and N-confused porphyrin dyes with 4?methoxy? meso -aryl rings ( 1 -Por, 1 -Chl and 1 -NCP) and their Sn(IV) complexes ( 1 -SnPor, 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP) have been synthesized and characterized. The heavy atom effect of the Sn(IV) ion results in relatively high singlet oxygen quantum yield values of 0.67, 0.71 and 0.85 for 1 -SnPor, 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP, respectively. The photodynamic activities of 1 -Por, 1 -Chl, 1 -NCP, 1 -SnPor, 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP were determined against MCF-7 breast cancer cells through illumination with Thorlabs 625 or 660 nm (240 or 280 mW.cm ?2 ) light emitting diodes (LEDs) for 20 min. The IC 50 values for 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP lie between 1.4 ? 6.1 and 1.6 ? 4.8 µM upon photoirradiation with the 660 and 625 nm LEDs, respectively, while higher values of >10 µM were obtained for 1 -SnPor and the free base dyes. In a similar manner, 1 -SnChl and 1 -SnNCP were found to also have significantly higher photodynamic antimicrobial activity against planktonic Gram-(+) Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-(?) Escherichia coli bacteria than the other dyes studied. Upon illumination with Thorlabs 625 and 660 nm LEDs for 75 min, Log 10 reduction values of 7.62 and > 2.40?3.69 were obtained with 1 and 5 µM solutions, respectively.
  • Photodynamic Anticancer and Antibacterial Activities of Sn(IV) N-Confused Meso-tetra(methylthiophenyl)porphyrin

    Somila Dingiswayo., Kristen Burgess., John Mack., Tebello Nyokong

    Journal, Photochem, 2023, Quartile: Q2, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    A Sn(IV) meso-tetra(4-methylthiolphenyl) N-confused porphyrin (4-Sn) complex was prepared to facilitate a comparison of the photophysicochemical and singlet oxygen photosensitiser properties of a series of Sn(IV) complexes of meso-4-methylthiolphenyl-substituted porphyrin, corrole, chlorin, and N-confused porphyrin. 4-Sn has an unusually high singlet oxygen quantum (?) yield of 0.88, markedly higher than the ? values of the other complexes in this series. A Thorlabs M660L4 LED (280 mW · cm) was used to study the photodynamic activity of Sn-4 against the MCF-7 cancer cell line through irradiation at 660 nm for 30 min. The IC value was calculated to be 1.4 (± 0.8) µM, markedly lower than the previously reported values for the rest of the series. Photodynamic antimicrobial activity was also determined against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, and 4-Sn was found to deactivate both Gram-(+) and Gram-(?) bacteria despite the absence of cationic charges on the ligand structure.
  • The Photodynamic Anticancer and Antibacterial Activity Properties of a Series of meso-Tetraarylchlorin Dyes and Their Sn(IV) Complexes

    Rodah Soy., John Mack., Tebello Nyokong

    Journal, Molecules, 2023, Quartile: Q1, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    A series of tetraarylchlorins with 3-methoxy-, 4-hydroxy- and 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl meso-aryl rings (1-3-Chl) and their Sn(IV) complexes (1-3-SnChl) were synthesized and characterized so that their potential utility as photosensitizer dyes for use in photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) can be assessed. The photophysicochemical properties of the dyes were assessed prior to in vitro PDT activity studies against MCF-7 breast cancer cells through irradiation with Thorlabs 625 or 660 nm LED for 20 min (240 or 280 mW·cm). PACT activity studies were performed against both planktonic bacteria and biofilms of Gram-(+) S. aureus and Gram-(?) E. coli upon irradiation with Thorlabs 625 and 660 nm LEDs for 75 min. The heavy atom effect of the Sn(IV) ion results in relatively high singlet oxygen quantum yield values of 0.69?0.71 for 1-3-SnChl. Relatively low IC values between 1.1?4.1 and 3.8?9.4 µM were obtained for the 1-3-SnChl series with the Thorlabs 660 and 625 nm LEDs, respectively, during the PDT activity studies. 1-3-SnChl were also found to exhibit significant PACT activity against planktonic S. aureus and E. coli with Log reduction values of 7.65 and >3.0, respectively. The results demonstrate that the Sn(IV) complexes of tetraarylchlorins merit further in depth study as photosensitizers in biomedical applications.
  • Sn(iv)-porphyrinoids for photodynamic anticancer and antimicrobial chemotherapy

    Tebello Nyokong., John Mack

    Journal, Dalton Transactions, 2023, Quartile: Q2, DOI Link

    View abstract ⏷

    Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a mode of treatment for different types of cancers, which involves a nontoxic photosensitizer (PS), a light source to activate the PS, and ground-state molecular oxygen (O). Light activation of the PS leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which initiates a toxic effect on the surrounding cellular substrates, thereby destroying the cancerous cells. The commercially used PDT drug Photofrin which is a tetrapyrrolic porphyrin-based photosensitizer has drawbacks such as aggregation in water, prolonged skin photosensitivity, variability in chemical compositions, and minimal absorbance in the red-light region. Metallation of the porphyrin core with diamagnetic metal ions aids the photogeneration of singlet oxygen (ROS). Metalating with Sn(iv) provides a six-coordination octahedral geometry with trans-diaxial ligands. This approach suppresses aggregation in aqueous media and increases ROS generation upon light exposure due to the heavy atom effect. Bulky trans-diaxial ligation hinders the approach of the Sn(iv) porphyrins, thereby suppressing aggregation effects. In this review, we document the recently reported Sn(iv) porphyrinoids and their photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT) activity properties. In a similar manner to PDT, the photosensitizer is used to kill the bacteria upon irradiation with light during PACT. Often, bacteria develop resistance against conventional chemotherapeutic drugs over time, decreasing their antibacterial properties. However, in the case of PACT, it is difficult to generate resistance against singlet oxygen produced by the photosensitizer.
Contact Details

balaji.b@srmap.edu.in

Scholars

Doctoral Scholars

  • Jotiba Pandurang Powar
  • Ms Gayathri M P