ABSTRACT
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a minimally invasive approach to treat various forms of cancer, based on the ability of certain non-toxic molecules (photosensitizers) to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) after excitation by light of a certain wavelength and eventually induce strong phototoxic reactions against malignant cells and other pathogens. Curcumin is one of the most extensively investigated phytochemicals with a wide range of therapeutic properties and has been shown to induce strong photocytotoxic effects in micromolar concentrations against a variety of cancer cell lines. Curcumin (1) is comparatively evaluated with the naturally occurring bisdemethoxy Curcumin (2), which lacks the two methoxy groups, as well as two newly synthesized curcuminoids, the cinnamaldehyde derivative (3) and the dimethylamino one (4), designed to increase the absorption maximum and hence the tissue penetration. The synthetic curcuminoids were successfully synthesized in sufficient amounts and their photophysical properties such as absorption, fluorescence, photobleaching and free radical generation were investigated. Compound 4 exhibited a significant increase in peak absorption (497 nm) and strong fluorescent emission signals were recorded for all curcuminoids. Photobleaching of 4 was comparable to 1 whereas 2 and 3 showed more extended photobleaching but much higher ROS production in very short irradiation times. Compounds 2 and 4 exhibited specific intracellular localization. After dark and light cytotoxicity experiments against LNCaP prostate cancer cell line for all curcuminoids, concentration of 3 µM and irradiance of 6 mW cm-2 were selected for the PDT application which resulted in remarkable results with very short LD50. Curcuminoids 2 and 4 exhibited a significant dose-dependent PDT effect. The biphasic dose-response photodynamic effect observed for 1 and 3 may provide a strategy against prolonged and sustained photosensitivity.
Subject(s)
Curcumin/analogs & derivatives , Photobleaching/drug effects , Photosensitizing Agents/pharmacology , Cell Line, Tumor , Cell Survival/drug effects , Cell Survival/radiation effects , Curcumin/metabolism , Curcumin/pharmacology , Humans , Light , Male , Microscopy, Confocal , Photochemotherapy , Photosensitizing Agents/chemistry , Photosensitizing Agents/therapeutic use , Prostatic Neoplasms/drug therapy , Prostatic Neoplasms/metabolism , Prostatic Neoplasms/pathology , Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolismABSTRACT
Irreversible thermal conformational changes induced to collagen have been studied by optical methods. More specifically, second harmonic generation (SHG) from incident nanosecond Ng:YAG 1064 nm radiation and laser-induced fluorescence by 337 nm, pulsed nanosecond nitrogen laser excitation, at 405, 410 and 415 nm emission wavelengths were registered at eight temperatures (40 degrees, 50 degrees, 55 degrees, 60 degrees, 65 degrees, 70 degrees, 75 degrees and 80 degrees C) and normalised with respect to the corresponding values at the ambient temperature of 30 degrees C. The heating protocol used in this work, was selected to monitor only permanent changes reflecting in the optical properties of the samples under investigation. In this context, the SHG, directly related to the collagen fibril population in triple helix conformation, indicated on irreversible phase transition around 64 degrees C. On the other hand fluorescence related to the destruction of cross-linked chromophores in collagen, some of which are related to the triple helix tertiary structure, also indicated a permanent phase transition around 63 degrees C. These results are in agreement with previous results from studies with differential scanning calorimetry. However SHG and fluorescence, being non-invasive optical methods are expected to have a significant impact in the fields of laser ablative surgery and laser tissue welding.
