Chemical Synthesis and Medicinal Applications of Glycoporphyrins

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.

Cite this article as:

Moylan Claire, Scanlan M. Eoin and Senge O. Mathias, Chemical Synthesis and Medicinal Applications of Glycoporphyrins, Current Medicinal Chemistry 2015; 22 (19) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/0929867322666150429113104