ABSTRACT
Porphyrins can comprise a variety of organic reactive groups by simply changing the initial reactants and can be functionalized with hydrophilic or hydrophobic properties. Furthermore, porphyrins and derivatives have delocalized p-electrons within the tetrapyrollic skeleton, which makes them display significant color and they also show high activity to post-chelate with a vast number of metal ions. Monoclonal antibodies are used to block specific receptor signaling pathways in cells, or helpful to deliver porphyrins to the target tissues. Liposomes have been widely used as carriers for porphyrin delivery. Besides encapsulating hydrophobic porphyrins, there is a growing interest in delivering modified hydrophilic porphyrins into biological systems. The serum-induced release speed of porphyrin-phospholipid liposome can be controlled by altering the concentrations of compositions during the process. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles are attractive for biomedical and biological applications due to their uniform porosity, ease of functionalization, and biocompatibility.
