Why do photosensitizers also selectively accumulate on cholesterol plaques, new vessels, viruses, bacteria, fungus?
Otto Warburg won the Noble Prize in 1931 for documenting the basic metabolism of cancer cells differs from normal cells. Cancer cells have a Lactic Acid, anaerobic (no oxygen) metabolism with highly negatively charged micro structures (mitochondria) while normal cells are characterized by Aerobic (oxygen) metabolism. Because photosensitizers tend to precipitate in an acid environment (such a cancer cells) and have elements on the molecule that are positively charged they adhere to the negative charges on the structures in the cancer cells. Likewise, because viruses are made of RNA (ribonucleic acid) and gram positive bacteria have a cell wall with a large proportion of an ester of lactic acit, the same accumulation of agent on viruses and gram positive bacteria takes place. The aspect of photodynamic therapy which affects vasculature and blood stasis is exploited in the use of the therapy for improvement of AMD. Due to a selective uptake in areas of choroidal neovasculature of certain
