The Influence of Electroporation on in Vitro Photodynamic Therapy of Human Breast Carcinoma Cells

摘要

Phototoxicity of drugs used in cancer photodynamic therapy could be augmented by increasedaccumulation of a photosensitizer in target cells. Theintracellular delivery mode that enhances drugtransportation could facilitate therapy by reducingthe exposure time. Doses of the administered drugand related side effects could be lowered, whilstmaintaining the same therapeutic efficiency. Electroporation supports transport of many drugs by creating electric field-induced transient nanopores in theplasma membrane. In this study, the electroporation-assisted transport of a photosensitizer was tested in vitro in human breast carcinoma cell lines:wild-type (MCF-7/WT) and doxorubicin-resistant(MCF-7/DOX). The efficacy of photodynamic therapy alone and in combination with electroporationwas evaluated by cell viability with MTT test, usinga haematoporphyrin derivative as a model. The datapresented show up to 10-fold greater efficacy of thecombined method, with very significantly reduceddrug exposure times.