Title:Chemical Synthesis and Medicinal Applications of Glycoporphyrins
Volume: 22
Issue: 19
Author(s): Claire Moylan, Eoin M. Scanlan and Mathias O. Senge
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Carbohydrates, glycoporphyrins, photodynamic therapy, porphyrins, sugars, tetrapyrroles.
Abstract: This review presents an in-depth overview of the modification of porphyrins with bioconjugates
and their applications in medicine today. Porphyrin bioconjugates ranging from nucleotides to
steroids are under active scrutiny. However, carbohydrates have been at the forefront of such research
in recent years and offer significant potential. This is attributed to their own selectivity to lectins on the
surface of cancer cells and their influence on the amphiphilicity of the porphyrin macrocycle. These characteristics and the
tendency of porphyrin photosensitizers to accumulate in tumor tissues make glycoporphyrins promising candidates for use
as photosensitizers. Thus, a detailed overview of the synthesis and biological evaluation of glycoporphyrins is given with
a particular focus on their applications in photodynamic therapy and their future prospects as drug candidates have been
reported.
