Aminophthalocyanine-Mediated Photodynamic Inactivation of Leishmania tropica

Photodynamic inactivation ofLeishmaniaspp. requires the cellular uptake of photosensitizers, e.g., endocytosis of silicon(IV)-phthalocyanines (PC) axially substituted with bulky ligands. We report here that when substituted with amino-containing ligands, the PCs (PC1 and PC2) were endocytosed and displayed improved potency againstLeishmania tropicapromastigotes and axenic amastigotesin vitro The uptake of these PCs by bothLeishmaniastages followed saturation kinetics, as expected. Sensitive assays were developed for assessing the photodynamic inactivation ofLeishmaniaspp. by rendering them fluorescent in two ways: transfecting promastigotes to express green fluorescent protein (GFP) and loading them with carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE). PC-sensitizedLeishmania tropicastrains were seen microscopically to lose their motility, structural integrity, and GFP/CFSE fluorescence after exposure to red light (wavelength, ∼650 nm) at a fluence of 1 to 2 J cm(-2) Quantitative fluorescence assays based on the loss of GFP/CFSE from liveLeishmania tropicashowed that PC1 and PC2 dose dependently sensitized both stages for photoinactivation, consistent with the results of a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) cell viability assay.Leishmania tropicastrains are >100 times more sensitive than their host cells or macrophages to PC1- and PC2-mediated photoinactivation, judging from the estimated 50% effective concentrations (EC50s) of these cells. Axial substitution of the PC with amino groups instead of other ligands appears to increase its leishmanial photolytic activity by up to 40-fold. PC1 and PC2 are thus potentially useful for photodynamic therapy of leishmaniasis and for oxidative photoinactivation ofLeishmaniaspp. for use as vaccines or vaccine carriers.