Cyanines as Efficient Photosensitizers in Photodynamic Reaction: Photophysical Properties and in vitro Photodynamic Activity

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J. Kulbacka^1*, A. Pola², D. Mosiadz², A. Choromanska¹, P. Nowak³, M. Kotulska⁴, M. Majkowski⁵, A. Hryniewicz-Jankowska⁵, L. Purzyc¹, and J. Saczko¹

¹Medical University, Department of Medical Biochemistry, Chalubinskiego 10, 50-368 Wroclaw, Poland; fax: +4871-784-0085; E-mail: jkulbacka@gmail.com

²Medical University, Department of Biophysics, Chalubinskiego 10, 50-368 Wroclaw, Poland

³Wroclaw University of Technology, Institute of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland

⁴Wroclaw University of Technology, Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, office D-1/115, Wroclaw, Poland

⁵Wroclaw University, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Laboratory of Cytobiochemistry, Tamka 2, 50-137 Wroclaw, Poland

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Received October 28, 2010; Revision received November 26, 2010

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The purpose of the present study was to explore the potential application of cyanines in photodynamic treatment. The photophysical features of four cyanines (KF570, HM118, FBF-749, and ER-139) were investigated by elemental and spectral analyses. Two malignant cell lines (MCF-7/WT and MCF-7/DOX) were used to test the potential for use in the photodynamic therapy. The cytotoxic effects of these dyes were determined by the MTT assay after 4 and 24 h of incubation with the cyanine. KF570 and HM118 were irradiated with red light (630-nm filter) and FBF-749 and ER-139 with green light (435-nm filter). The results showed that the cyanine HM118 demonstrated a major phototoxic effect. It was also noted that the efficiency of photodynamic therapy was higher in the doxorubicin-resistant cell line (MCF-7/DOX).

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KEY WORDS: breast adenocarcinoma cells, cyanines, photodynamic therapy, cytotoxicity

DOI: 10.1134/S0006297911040110

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