Damaging action of photodynamic treatment in combination with hyperthermia on transmembrane transport in murine L929 fibroblasts

Characterization of photoactivated singlet oxygen damage in single-molecule optical trap experiments

Optical traps or "tweezers" use high-power, near-infrared laser beams to manipulate and apply forces to biological systems, ranging from individual molecules to cells. Although previous studies have established that optical tweezers induce photodamage in live cells, the effects of trap irradiation have yet to be examined in vitro, at the single-molecule level. In this study, we investigate trap-induced damage in a simple system consisting of DNA molecules tethered between optically trapped polystyrene microspheres. We show that exposure to the trapping light affects the lifetime of the tethers, the efficiency with which they can be formed, and their structure. Moreover, we establish that these irreversible effects are caused by oxidative damage from singlet oxygen. This reactive state of molecular oxygen is generated locally by the optical traps in the presence of a sensitizer, which we identify as the trapped polystyrene microspheres. Trap-induced oxidative damage can be reduced greatly by working under anaerobic conditions, using additives that quench singlet oxygen, or trapping microspheres lacking the sensitizers necessary for singlet state photoexcitation. Our findings are relevant to a broad range of trap-based single-molecule experiments-the most common biological application of optical tweezers-and may guide the development of more robust experimental protocols.

Postirradiation hyperthermia selectively potentiates the merocyanine 540-sensitized photoinactivation of small cell lung cancer cells

Lung cancer has long been considered a disease that might benefit from the dose escalation of radio/chemotherapy afforded by a stem cell transplant. However, the clinical experience with high-dose chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation in lung cancer has been disappointing, with most trials showing little or no improvement in long-term survival. Unfortunately, lung cancer has a tendency to metastasize to the bone marrow, and lung cancer cells are known to circulate in the peripheral blood. Therefore, there is concern that autologous stem cell grafts from lung cancer patients may reinoculate recipients with live tumor cells. Photochemical purging of stem cell grafts with Merocyanine 540 (MC540) is highly effective against a wide range of leukemia and lymphoma cells and is well tolerated by normal hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Most solid tumor cells (including lung cancer cells), however, are only moderately sensitive or refractory to MC540-mediated photodynamic therapy (PDT). We report here that postirradiation hyperthermia (< or = 42 degrees C, 3 h) potentiates the MC540-mediated photoinactivation of both wild-type (H69) and cisplatin-resistant mutant (H69/CDDP) small cell lung cancer cells by several orders of magnitude, while only minimally enhancing the depletion of normal human granulocyte/macrophage progenitor cells. Our data suggest that postirradiation hyperthermia provides a simple and effective means of extending the utility of MC540-PDT to the purging of stem cell grafts contaminated with lung cancer and possibly other solid tumor cells.

Influence of cell culture medium on the photosensitizing effectiveness of bacteriochlorin a

To study the photosensitizing properties of bacteriochlorin a (BCA) in a (lipo)protein-rich environment, the photosensitizing efficacy was tested by clonogenic survival of Chinese hamster ovary and T24 (human bladder carcinoma) cells. Confluent cell layers were incubated with 2.5 micrograms ml-1 BCA in cell culture medium for 1, 4, 6, 18 and 24 h. Upon illumination with red light it was found that BCA was not effective as a photosensitizer in this medium. Extraction methods showed that this lack of photosensitization could not be explained by the inability of the dye to enter the cells in the presence of cell culture medium. The presence of cell culture medium did not change the spectral properties of BCA to an appreciable extent. Standard KBr density gradient ultracentrifugation showed that in the presence of cell culture medium approximately 20% of the BCA was sedimented with low density lipoprotein (LDL) and 60% with high density lipoprotein (HDL). Incubating T24 cells 18 h before the clonogenic cell survival assay in serum-deficient medium restored the photosensitizing properties of BCA. It is proposed that in a protein-rich (in vivo) environment BCA associates with lipoproteins and can be taken up by malignant neoplasms via the LDL pathway.

Relationship between photodynamically induced damage to various cellular parameters and loss of clonogenicity in different cell types with hematoporphyrin derivative as sensitizer

The possible causal relationship between various forms of photodynamically inflicted damage and reproductive cell death of cultivated cells was evaluated according to three criteria. The probability for the existence of such a relationship is high, when the particular form of cellular damage (i) exhibits a dose-effect curve, comparable to the dose-effect curve of loss of clonogenicity, (ii) is not readily repairable during further incubation of the treated cells and (iii) varies in a way comparable to the loss of clonogenicity under varying experimental conditions. According to these criteria it could be shown that many forms of photodynamically inflicted cellular damage are presumably not directly involved in loss of clonogenicity. Only for a few kinds of cellular damage studied in the present investigations was the probability for a causal relationship with reproductive cell death much higher. For L929 fibroblasts this is either an inhibition of the Na+/K(+)-ATPase activity, or a relatively slight DNA damage combined with a strong inhibition of DNA excision repair. For T24 human bladder carcinoma cells the kinds of cellular damage that may be causally related to reproductive cell death are again inhibition of Na+/K(+)-ATPase activity, inhibition of amino-acid (AIB and glycine) transport activity or impairment of mitochondrial function. Finally, for CHO cells, inhibition of leucine and phenylalanine transport and impairment of mitochondrial function may be crucial for loss of clonogenicity. These results indicate that the pathways leading to photodynamically induced reproductive cell death may be quite different for different cell types.

Hematoporphyrin derivative-induced photodynamic inhibition of Na+/K(+)-ATPase in L929 fibroblasts, Chinese hamster ovary cells and T24 human bladder transitional carcinoma cells

The photodynamically induced inhibition of Na+/K(+)-ATPase with hematoporphyrin derivative as photosensitizer was studied in murine L929 fibroblasts, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and T24 human bladder transitional carcinoma cells. In T24 cells the inhibition of the enzyme activity appeared to be caused by ATP depletion rather than by direct damage from the enzyme itself. In L929 and CHO cells, on the other hand, the inhibition was caused by photodynamic damage from the enzyme molecule. For all three cell lines it was shown that a causal relationship between photodynamically induced reduction in Na+/K(+)-ATPase activity and the loss of clonogenicity is highly unlikely.

Relation of early Photofrin uptake to photodynamically induced phototoxicity and changes of cell volume in different cell lines

For efficacy of photodynamic therapy, selective uptake and retention of photoactive substances has been postulated. Therefore, measurements were performed to find out whether the photosensitiser Photofrin is taken up differently in malignant and non-malignant cells in vitro. In addition, the sensitivity of malignant cells and non-malignant cells to photodynamic exposure was investigated, by quantifying viability and volume alterations of the cells. Bovine aortic endothelial cells, mouse fibroblasts and amelanotic hamster melanoma cells were suspended in a specially designed incubation chamber under controlled conditions (e.g. pH, pO2, pCO2 and temperature). After establishing constant baseline conditions, the cellular fluorescence intensity per cell volume, indicative of the uptake of Photofrin, and cell volume were assessed by flow cytometry, and cell viability was quantified by the trypan blue exclusion test. Photodynamic exposure of cells was performed using an argon-pumped dye laser system via a 600 microns optical fibre at energy density of 4 Joules at the cell surface (40 mW/cm2, 100 s). In comparison to endothelial and fibroblast cells, the melanoma cells exhibited no increased uptake of Photofrin, and no enhanced sensitivity to photodynamic therapy (PDT). However, the fluorescence intensity/volume of endothelial cells was two to three times higher at each concentration of the photosensitiser. Following PDT, reduction in cell viability was dependent on the concentration of Photofrin, and directly correlated with fluorescence intensity per cell volume. In addition, the cells of all three lines, treated by PDT, revealed dose-dependent changes in cell volume. Melanoma cells exhibited the most excessive increase. It is suggested that selective uptake of photosensitiser in vitro is not characteristic for tumour cells. The high uptake of Photofrin by endothelial cells may indicate that the vascular endothelium is a major target for PDT, leading to cessation of tumour blood flow and subsequent destruction of tumour tissue. In addition, PDT-induced swelling of tumour cells might represent and effect synergistically impairing tumour perfusion, and thereby promoting tumour death.

Ca(2+)-mediated prostaglandin E2 induction reduces haematoporphyrin-derivative-induced cytotoxicity of T24 human bladder transitional carcinoma cells in vitro

The effects of haematoporphyrin-derivative-mediated photodynamic treatment on arachidonic acid metabolism and its relation to clonogenicity have been studied in human bladder-tumour cells. Photodynamic treatment resulted in a transient release of arachidonic acid-derived compounds; prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and thromboxane B2 (TXB2) especially were strongly increased. This release was reduced by chelation of intracellular Ca2+ with Quin-2 or by lowering the extracellular Ca2+ concentration in the medium with EGTA, presumably resulting in inhibition of phospholipase A2. A similar reduction was obtained when indomethacin, an inhibitor of the cyclo-oxygenase pathway, was added prior to light exposure. These three treatments enhanced the photosensitivity, as revealed by the clonogenicity assay. Incubation with PGE2 prior to light exposure, but not with TXB2, protected against reproductive-cell death. The results of these experiments suggest that Ca(2+)-mediated activation of cyclo-oxygenase, resulting in increased levels of PGE2, participates in a cellular-defence mechanism against photodynamic cell killing.

A role for the transient increase of cytoplasmic free calcium in cell rescue after photodynamic treatment

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and T24 human bladder transitional carcinoma cells were treated with the photosensitizers aluminum phthalocyanine (AlPc) and hematoporphyrin derivative (HPD), respectively. Exposure of both sensitized cell lines to red light caused an immediate increase of cytoplasmic free calcium, [Ca2+]i, reaching a peak within 5-15 min after exposure and then returning to basal level (approximately 200 nM). The level of the peak [Ca2+]i depended on the light fluence, reaching a maximum of 800-1000 nM at light doses that kill about 90% of the cells. Loading the cells with the intracellular calcium chelators quin2 or BAPTA prior to light exposure enhanced cell killing. This indicates that increased [Ca2+]i after photodynamic therapy (PDT) contributed to survivability of the treated cells by triggering a cellular rescue response. The results of experiments with calcium-free buffer and calcium chelators indicate that both in CHO cells treated with AlPc and with HPD-PDT of T24 cells extracellular Ca2+ influx is mainly responsible for elevated [Ca2+]i. PDT is unique in triggering a cell rescue process via elevated [Ca2+]i. Other cytotoxic agents, e.g., H2O2, produce sustained increase of [Ca2+]i that is involved in the pathological processes leading to cell death.

Photosensitization by Photofrin II delivered to WI26VA4 SV40-transformed human fibroblasts by low density lipoproteins: inhibition of lipid synthesis and fatty acid uptake

Irradiation with 365 nm light of Wi26VA4 SV40-transformed human fibroblasts cultured for 24 h in the presence of low density lipoproteins loaded with the anticancer porphyrin mixture Photofrin II resulted in a near complete inhibition of [14C]oleic acid incorporation into triacylglycerols, cholesteryl esters and phospholipids. More than 80% reduction of the fatty acid incorporation in all lipid classes was observed following an irradiation dose of 1 J/cm2. The activities of the respective acyltransferases, measured in vitro on cell homogenates, were also markedly diminished, but to a lesser extent than lipid synthesis from oleic acid. Moreover, oleic acid uptake by cells was strongly and rapidly reduced. It is suggested that the rapid inhibition of membrane phospholipid synthesis upon cell photosensitization, due to both a direct inactivation of acyltransferases and to a reduction of fatty acid utilization, could play an important role in the photocytotoxic effect of Photofrin II.

Preclinical examination of first and second generation photosensitizers used in photodynamic therapy

Numerous photosensitizers with absorption peaks spanning the 600-800 nm "therapeutic window" have been and continue to be synthesized. Structural modifications of the dyes can then be made in order to improve tumor deliverability and retention. Chemical alterations can also enhance the yields of light generated reactive oxygen species. Utilization of lipoproteins, emulsions and antibody conjugates can enhance the selectivity of drug localization. Most cell types and subcellular structures are highly photosensitive and biochemical analysis indicates that cellular target sites associated with PDT correlate with photosensitizer location. In vivo data suggest that vascular and direct tumor cell damage as well as systemic and local immunological reactions are involved in PDT responsiveness. Additional mechanistic, synthetic and developmental studies are required in order to fully appreciate the potentials of PDT. However, continued enthusiasm and support for basic PDT research (as observed during the past 8 years) will depend to a large extent on the outcome of the current clinical trials.

Temperature effects on photosensitized processes

The singlet-oxygen-mediated reaction of meso-tetraphenylporphine tetrasulphonate (TPPS4) with different chemical acceptors in buffered aqueous solution was studied as a function of temperature. Imidazole, tryptophan, dimethyl p-nitrosoaniline, (RNO) and furfuryl alcohol served as acceptors. The measurements were performed in real time by spectroscopic or electrochemical monitoring of the consumption of the various reagents, acceptors or dissolved oxygen as a function of the absorbed energy. The results show the following increases in the reaction rate over the temperature range 15-45 degrees C: tryptophan (86%), RNO (90%), furfuryl alcohol (150%) and imidazole (210%). The influence of temperature-correlated changes in the initial oxygen concentration and pH was investigated. Possible implications of the present results for the synergistic influence of hyperthermia and photodynamic therapy are discussed.

Preferential uptake of cytotoxic porphyrins from hematoporphyrin derivative in murine L929 fibroblasts and Chinese hamster ovary K1 epithelial cells

Photodynamically induced loss of clonogenicity of murine L929 fibroblasts and Chinese hamster ovary K1 epithelial cells was determined with two different assays. It appeared that the loss of clonogenicity was much higher when 20 cells/cm2 were incubated with hematoporphyrin derivative (HPD) and illuminated, than when confluent cell layers were incubated with the same amount of HPD and illuminated prior to plating out. This dependency of cell killing on the experimental protocol was also observed when protoporphyrin (90-95% pure) was used as photosensitizer, but not when the cells were photodynamically treated with rose bengal or exposed to mitomycin C. Further, when cell layers were incubated with the residual solution that remained after the previous incubation of a confluent cell layer with HPD, illumination of these layers appeared to be almost non-toxic, although the overall porphyrin concentration in the residual solution was only slightly lower than in HPD. These results indicate that the porphyrins, responsible for loss of clonogenicity, are present in relatively small amounts in HPD and unpurified protoporphyrin and are preferentially taken up by the cells. Although 2-aminoisobutyric acid transport and DNA synthesis are among the most photosensitive targets with HPD, photodynamic treatment of L929 cells with the residual solution did not result in inhibition of the transport system and DNA synthesis. In contrast, the K+ content of the cells still decreased considerably, when utilizing the porphyrins, remaining in the residual solution as sensitizer. This indicates that under the present experimental conditions the disturbance of the membrane barrier function does not contribute to loss of clonogenicity of these cells and, moreover, that the photodynamically induced K+ leakage is caused by a component of HPD other than inhibition of 2-aminoisobutyric acid transport and DNA synthesis.