Investigation of photodynamic therapy (PDT) efficiency of novel aminophenol thioethanol substituted silicon phthalocyanines on different breast cancer cell lines

Cancer is a pathological condition characterized by uncontrolled cell growth and metastatic properties. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women and causes a serious health problem worldwide. Among the treatment studies in breast cancer, the methods that can selectively kill cancer cells are emphasized. One of the most prominent methods is photodynamic therapy (PDT). In PDT, light-sensitive molecules and light at certain wavelengths are used together, cellular damage occurs upon the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thus cell death happens. In this study, we aimed to investigate the PDT activity of novel aminophenolthioethanol-substituted silicon phthalocyanines (SiPc) in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines and MCF-10A normal breast cell line. In this context, antiproliferative, antitumoral, and antimigrative properties of SiPc molecules were determined. In the cell viability and cell death studies, it was observed that SiPc molecules exhibited a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect on cancer cells and induced cell death. When these molecules are used in combination with PDT, it has been observed that they reduce the mitochondrial membrane potential in cells, cause intracellular ROS formation and increase the cleaved form of poly ADP ribose polymerase 1 (PARP1), which is involved in different cell death processes. It was also determined that cancer cells reduce their colony-forming properties in long-term culture and restrict cell movement, which was studied using wound healing model. Transwell-modeled migration and invasion experiments determined that cancer cell lines limit their migration and invasion capabilities. To conclude, antitumoral properties of the newly synthesized SiPc molecules were determined for the first time and preliminary data showed that these molecules could be drug candidates in treatment.