Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Synthesis Of Aptamer-Porphyrin Conjugate For Photodynamic Therapy & Synthesis And Stability Of Mixed Thiol/Lipid Coated Gold Nanoparticles, Sarita Sitaula

Dissertations and Theses

An underlying problem in Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is low selectivity of photosensitizers currently being used for the treatment of tumors. This thesis is focused on developing new PDT drugs and is divided into two parts. The first chapter describes a method for selective delivery of the photosensitizers to the tumor site by conjugating porphyrins to an aptamer for the targeted PDT. To achieve this, a novel synthesis of 2'-porphyrin-modified uridine was developed. The 3'-H-phosphonate derivatives of both 2'-porphyrin and 2'-dithiaporphyrin modified uridine were also synthesized. The 3'41-phosphonate derivative of 2'-porphyrin-modified uridine was conjugated to a 19-mer DNA and to a …