Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of a highly water-soluble psoralen-based photosensitizer.

In recent years, photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been approved for treating various medical conditions, including cancer. PDT is a treatment that employs a particular drugs, called photosensitizers which work along with specific light source. The growth of this medical industry is expanding as it is another promising alternative to treat cancer which lessen the burden of treatments in patients. This includes the benefits of minimally invasive procedures and delivering high accuracy in targeting mutations. In recent two decades, cancer researchers have produced remarkable studies on developing photosensitizers that enhance understanding of biology and genetics of cancer. It is unfortunate that not all PDT can work as well as other profound treatment because PDT has various limitations like PDT leads photosensitivity reaction that arises when the photosensitizer remains in the body for a long period of time. In this paper, our studies centers on synthesizing a highly soluble photosensitizing agent with improved effectiveness on detecting cancer cells.

Fermented Brown Rice and Rice Bran with Aspergillus oryzae (FBRA) Prevents Inflammation-Related Carcinogenesis in Mice, through Inhibition of Inflammatory Cell Infiltration.

We have established an inflammation-related carcinogenesis model in mouse, in which regressive QR-32 cells subcutaneously co-implanted with a foreign body-gelatin sponge-convert themselves into lethal tumors due to massive infiltration of inflammatory cells into the sponge. Animals were fed with a diet containing 5% or 10% fermented brown rice and rice bran with Aspergillus oryzae (FBRA). In 5% and 10% FBRA diet groups, tumor incidences were lower (35% and 20%, respectively) than in the non-treated group (70%). We found that FBRA reduced the number of inflammatory cells infiltrating into the sponge. FBRA administration did not cause myelosuppression, which indicated that the anti-inflammatory effects of FBRA took place at the inflammatory lesion. FBRA did not have antitumor effects on the implanted QRsP-11 tumor cells, which is a tumorigenic cell line established from a tumor arisen after co-implantation of QR-32 cells with sponge. FBRA did not reduce formation of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanine adducts, a marker of oxidative DNA damage in the inflammatory lesion; however, it reduced expression of inflammation-related genes such as TNF-α, Mac-1, CCL3 and CXCL2. These results suggest that FBRA will be an effective chemopreventive agent against inflammation-related carcinogenesis that acts by inhibiting inflammatory cell infiltration into inflammatory lesions.