Protein microarray for complex apoptosis monitoring of dysplastic oral keratinocytes in experimental photodynamic therapy.

Clara Matei,Mircea Tampa,Carolina Constantin,Georgiana Roxana Dumitrascu,Constantin Caruntu,Simona-Roxana Georgescu,Monica Neagu,Rodica-Mariana Ion

doi:10.1186/0717-6287-47-33

Abstract

BackgroundPhotodynamic therapy is an alternative treatment of muco-cutaneous tumors that uses a light source able to photoactivate a chemical compound that acts as a photosensitizer. The phthalocyanines append to a wide chemical class that encompasses a large range of compounds; out of them aluminium-substituted disulphonated phthalocyanine possesses a good photosensitizing potential.ResultsThe destructive effects of PDT with aluminium-substituted disulphonated phthalocyanine are achieved by induction of apoptosis in tumoral cells as assessed by flow cytometry analysis. Using protein microarray we evaluate the possible molecular pathways by which photodynamic therapy activates apoptosis in dysplastic oral keratinocytes cells, leading to the tumoral cells destruction. Among assessed analytes, Bcl-2, P70S6K kinase, Raf-1 and Bad proteins represent the apoptosis related biomolecules that showed expression variations with the greatest amplitude.ConclusionsUp to date, the intimate molecular apoptotic mechanisms activated by photodynamic therapy with this type of phthalocyanine in dysplastic human oral keratinocytes are not completely elucidated. With protein microarray as high-throughput proteomic approach a better understanding of the manner in which photodynamic therapy leads to tumoral cell destruction can be obtained, by depicting apoptotic molecules that can be potentially triggered in future anti-tumoral therapies.

Highlights

Photodynamic therapy is an alternative treatment of muco-cutaneous tumors that uses a light source able to photoactivate a chemical compound that acts as a photosensitizer
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) destroys tumoral cells mainly by induction of apoptosis, the programmed cell death, a complex process consisting in the activation of multiple intracellular signaling pathways culminating with caspase cascade stimulation that leads to nuclear dissolution, DNA fragmentation and lysis of various protein substrates vital to normal cell physiology
The mechanistic aspects employed by PDT using Zn-substituted tri-sulphonated phthalocyanine in DOK cells have been previously described by us [6]

Summary

Introduction

Photodynamic therapy is an alternative treatment of muco-cutaneous tumors that uses a light source able to photoactivate a chemical compound that acts as a photosensitizer. PDT uses an adequate light source able to photoactivate a chemical compound that acts like a photosensitiser; various photosensitizers are recently the subject of intense research worldwide, mainly porphyrin precursors and Aluminium di-sulphonated phthalocyanine (AlS2Pc) is a metallo-substituted phthalocyanine with increased solubility, due to the sulphonated substituents from the macrocycle periphery. Induction of apoptosis in the tumoral cells in a selective manner, without alteration of the surrounding normal cells is a desired effect that PDT relies upon and this selective process is achieved by accumulation of the photosensitizer preferentially in the tumoral cells. The mechanistic aspects employed by PDT using Zn-substituted tri-sulphonated phthalocyanine in DOK cells have been previously described by us [6]

Methods

Results

Conclusion