Here we report the investigation of photophysical properties and photodynamic action of two novel water soluble hybrid molecular structures based on [60]fullerene dyads bearing covalently attached residues of anthracycline antibiotic “ruboxyl”. Molecular structures of the designed compounds were confirmed by IR and UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy, electrospray mass spectrometry (compound 5), and ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. Dynamic light scattering, steady-state and kinetic fluorimetry and UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy techniques were used to study the behavior of the synthesized hybrid molecular structures in aqueous solutions. Photodynamic activity of the compounds was evaluated by monitoring the O₂ ⁻ generation under visible light irradiation using the NBT test. It has been shown that the anthracycline chromophore (ruboxyl moiety possesses no photodynamic activity) behaves as an efficient photosensitizer for the fullerene core operating via the energy and/or the electron transfer pathways. The presented approach opens up wide opportunities for the design of various fullerene-based donor–acceptor systems with enhanced photodynamic properties potentially suitable for biomedicinal applications.

A series of nanoparticles (NPs) with a hydrodynamic radius from 20 to 100 nm in PBS was developed over the solubilization of hydrophobic dye methyl pheophorbide a (chlorin e₆ derivative) by amphiphilic copolymers of N-vinylpyrrolidone with (di)methacrylates. Photophysical properties and biological activity of the NPs aqueous solution were studied. It was found that the dye encapsulated in the copolymers is in an aggregated state. However, its aggregation degree decreases sharply, and singlet oxygen quantum yield and the fluorescence signal increase upon the interaction of these NPs with model biological membranes—liposomes or components of a tissue homogenate. The phototoxic effect of NPs in HeLa cells exceeds by 1.5–2 times that of the reference dye chlorin e₆ trisodium salt—one of the most effective photosensitizers used in clinical practice. It could be explained by the effective release of the hydrophobic photosensitizer from the NPs into biological structures. The demonstrated approach can be used not only for the encapsulation of hydrophobic photosensitizers for PDT but also for other drugs, and N-vinylpyrrolidone amphiphilic copolymers show promising potential as a modern platform for the design of targeted delivery vehicles.

We report the investigation of the molecular mechanisms responsible for the neuroprotective activity of water-soluble [60]fullerene derivatives (WS[60]FDs). It has been shown that WS[60]FDs influence the therapeutically important targets of the Alzheimer disease by inhibiting the catalytic activity of the monoaminooxidase B in vitro, decreasing the level of free radical species and behaving as positive modulators of AMPA receptors of Purkinje neurons in the cerebellum of rats. The cognitive stimulatory effects of WS[60]FDs were revealed in vivo through behavioural experiments in mice.