Abstract
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an emergent technique used in clinical treatments for several pathologies, in which the photoactivation of photosensitizer molecule leads to cell death. Our project investigates the photodynamic effect of Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), one of the currently most used photosensitizers, in prokaryotic cells, in order to explore its use in sterilization. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Wide Field Microscopy (WFM) were used to evaluate PDT effects on X.fastidiosa cells.
Highlights
First Photodynamic therapy (PDT) results date from 20th century
One of our first goals centered on finding evidences of the presence of porphyrin in the cell membrane, otherwise the photodynamic effect is not possible
The photosensitizer molecule Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) was added to such cell cultures, which were compared with a control sample with no exposition to PpIX
Summary
First PDT results date from 20th century. Since many applications of this therapy have been developed. In the last decade the interest in antimicrobial effects of PDT has been growing, since its mechanism is based in reactions of the photosensitizer that lead cells to death[1]. Experiments showed PpIX inside animal cells; more recent studies show that this photosensitizer localizes on mitochondria.[2] This project investigates the interaction mechanism between PpIX molecule and bacteria cells, using microscopy techniques, to probe the morphological and structural properties of the cell membrane. Once the presence of PpIX on cells was determined, a second experiment was used to find the best parameters to activate the photosensitizer.
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