The Temperature Dependence of Protoporphyrin IX Production in Cells and Tissues

The formation of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) in human skin during topical application of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) was found to be strongly temperature dependent, with an activation energy of about 17 kcal/mol. This temperature dependence is mainly related to porphyrin production and not to ALA penetration into the skin. The penetration of ALA into mouse and human skin was almost temperature independent. The activation energy of PpIX production in mouse skin was practically identical with that in human skin. The activation energy of ALA uptake by cells in vitro was about 10 kcal/mol and that for PpIX production was about 13 kcal/mol. The latter activation energy was within the error limits similar to that for the activity of the enzyme porphobilinogen deaminase, suggesting that this enzyme might represent a rate-limiting step for PpIX production in living tissue.     

A COMPARISON OF THREE PHOTOSENSITIZERS WITH RESPECT TO EFFICIENCY OF CELL IN ACTIVATION, FLUORESCENCE QUANTUM YIELD AND DNA STRAND BREAKS

Intracellular properties of three photosensitizers relevant to photodynamic cancer therapy were compared using cultured human NHIK 3025 cells. When taken up in the cells, the hydrophilic photosensitizer aluminum phthalocyanine tetra sulfonate required about 10 times more quanta of light absorbed per cell to kill 90% of the cells than did the hydrophobic dyes Photofrin II and tetra(3-hydroxyphenyl)porphyrin. In spite of this, the phthalocyanine molecule was the most efficient dye per quantum of excitation light, since the extinction coefficient of the phthalocyanine is more than 10 times higher than that of the two hydrophobic photosensitizers at therapeutic wavelengths. The two hydrophobic dyes had significantly higher fluorescence quantum yields when taken up by cells than when bound to human plasma or human serum albumin, whereas the opposite was true for the hydrophilic phthalocyanine dye--suggesting intracellular aggregation. Finally, the potential genetic toxicities of the drugs in the form of DNA strand breaks were compared. The aluminum phthalocyanine tetra sulfonate photosensitized more DNA strand breaks than did Photofrin II and tetra(3-hydroxyphenyl)porphyrin when compared at the same level of cell survival.     

Influence de la temperature et du gradient de vitesse sur la viscosite des solutions diluees de xanthane

The dependence of the relative viscosity of a dilute xanthan solution (0.4 g·l^?1) has been studied as a function of temperature (20–70°) and of the ionic strength of the solvent. When the rate of shear exceeds 100 sec^?1, the viscosity can be expressed as γ̊ the exponent (n ? 1) varies with the polymer conformation. In aqueous solution in the absence or in the presence of added salt at a temperature above the melting temperature T_M (depending on the ionic strength of the solvent), the exponent (n ? 1) is ?0.285 and corresponds to the unordered conformation; at temperatures below T_M, the local helical conformation is rigid and (n ? 1) is ～ ?0.44 almost independent of the temperature.     

Porphyrin derivatives having physical and chemical characteristics similar to those of the active components of hematoporphyrin derivative and with very strong photosensitizing effects

The tumour-localizing fraction of hematoporphyrin derivative (Hpd) is thought to possess an essentially diporphyrin ether structure or, alternatively, a diporphyrin ester structure, the properties of which facilitate its retention in malignant cells and its biological activity on irradiation. To elucidate this problem further, we have synthesized the dimethyl, diethyl, dipropyl, di-n-butyl and di-iso-butyl ethers of hematoporphyrin. These ethers show chromatographic properties very similar to those of the active components of Hpd. Furthermore, they are much better photosensitizers in a cellular system than are crude Hpd or Photofrin II, and, like the components of Hpd, they are taken up and retained by cells according to their degree of non-polarity.     

Solar radiation, vitamin D and survival rate of colon cancer in Norway

Solar radiation contributes significantly to the status of serum calcidiol (25-hydroxyvitamin D3, 25-(OH)D3) in humans, even at the high latitudes of northern Norway. Thus, in late summer the serum concentration of calcidiol is roughly 50% larger than that in late winter, when the solar radiation in Norway contains too little ultraviolet radiation to induce any synthesis of vitamin D3 in human skin. This seems to influence the prognosis of colon cancer. We here report that the survival rate of colon cancer in men and women, assessed 18 months after diagnosis, is dependent on the season of diagnosis. A high serum concentration of calcidiol at the time of diagnosis, i.e. at the start of conventional therapy, seems to give an increased survival rate. This agrees with cell and animal experiments reported in the literature, as well as with epidemiological data from some countries relating colon cancer survival with latitude and vitamin D3 synthesis in skin. One possible interpretation of the present data is that, the level of calcidiol, or its derivative calcitriol (1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, 1alpha,25-(OH)2D3), may act positively in concert with conventional therapies of colon cancer.     

PHOTODYNAMIC INACTIVATION OF YEAST CELLS SENSITIZED BY HEMATOPORPHYRIN

Abstract— Yeast cells are inactivated by treatment with hematoporphyrin and light. The inactivation is mainly mediated by singlet oxygen. The quantum yield of singlet oxygen increases with increasing pH, while the efficiency of cellular inactivation decreases with increasing pH. Cells in the stationary phase are much more resistant to the treatment than cells in exponential growth. Membrane damage seems to be the main determining step in the photoinactivation.     

Transfer of protoporphyrin IX between cells

Human adenocarcinoma cells of the line WiDr and human leukemia T cells of the line Jurkat were incubated with 5-aminolevulinic acid and found to produce protoporphyrin IX (PpIX). They were able to transfer a fraction of the sensitizer to neighboring control cells. The transfer took place through direct membrane contact. Light exposures, inactivating about 20% of the sensitized cells, did not result in any acceleration of the transfer of PpIX. This is in contrast to what has been reported for PpIX in erythrocytes from patients with erythropoietic protoporphyria. In these cells light exposure transfers PpIX from the binding sites on hemoglobin to the plasma membrane and further to neighboring cells. The lack of light-induced transfer in the WiDr and Jurkat cells may be related to the binding sites of PpIX, supposedly membrane lipids and proteins embedded therein. Light exposure slightly increased the rate of loss of PpIX from WiDr cells.     

DISTRIBUTION OF 5-AMINOLEVULINIC ACID-INDUCED PORPHYRINS IN NODULOULCERATIVE BASAL CELL CARCINOMA

Abstract— Microscopic fluorescence photometry incorporating a light-sensitive thermo-electrically cooled charge-coupled device (CCD) camera was employed to investigate the fluorescence distribution of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-induced porphyrins in 22 patients with a total number of 52 noduloul-cerative basal cell carcinomas (BCC) after topical ALA application with or without dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)/ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) or after intravenous administration of ALA. Both localization patterns and amounts of ALA-induced porphyrins in the BCC were studied. The ALA-induced porphyrins were localized only in the superficial layers of the noduloulcerative BCC lesions after topical application of 20% ALA alone for 3 h. However, both the penetration of ALA into deep lesions and the production of the ALA-induced porphyrin fluorescence were increased after topical administration of 20% ALA and 20% DMSO/4% EDTA for 3 h. Prior treatment with 99% DMSO for 15 min further enhanced the ALA penetration into the BCC lesions after topical application of the ALA/DMSO/EDTA mixture and produced more ALA-induced porphyrins by a factor of about three compared with those treated with ALA alone. The penetration of ALA into the deep BCC lesions could also be increased by prolonging the time of topical application of 20% ALA/4% EDTA to 29–48 h (without DMSO). Intravenous injection of ALA led to a more homogeneous distribution of the ALA-derived porphyrins in the whole noduloulcerative BCC lesions.     

Lateral migrations of solid spheres in tube flow

Cross-flow displacements of neutrally buoyant solid spheres under Poiseuille-type flow conditions in narrow channels, at low volume fraction, are described by a phenomenological model within the framework of the Fokker-Planck equation. In this model, the effects of particle-particle and particle-wall interactions are taken into account. In addition to the classical wall effect (depleted layer near the wall), numerical solutions of the derived equations display two opposite lateral migrations towards the wall and the tube axis, and an alignment of the particles in adjacent layers parallel to the flow. These numerical results are then compared with experimental results obtained by Goldsmith and Marlow [18] for erythrocyte suspensions. A good qualitative agreement is observed.