Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2067057 | Cell Biology International | 2009 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) as a regime for melanoma is of limited success due to factors such as the efficacy of the photosensitizer used, penetration depth and the presence of pigment. We characterised a pigmented and an unpigmented melanoma cell line with respect to their phenotypes. Cell viability was assessed after exposure to hypericin, a UVA-activated photosensitizer. Exposure to 3 μM activated hypericin induced a cytoprotective (autophagic) response from both cell lines. However, the pigmented cells accumulated a large amount of glycogen in their cytoplasm. We hypothesise that the treatment induces an initial cytoprotective response through autophagy, but with increased stress results in a different mode of cell death in pigmented melanoma cells from unpigmented cells. These results indicate that hypericin-PDT could be an adjuvant therapy for melanoma.
Related Topics
Life Sciences
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Biophysics
Authors
Lester M. Davids, Britta Kleemann, Susan Cooper, Susan H. Kidson,