Hsu C.Y., Lai P.S., Rao J.H.
National Chung Hsing University, TW
Keywords: photodynamic therapy, quantum dots, self-illuminating
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an innovative method for cancer treatment which involves the administration of a photosensitizing agent followed by exposure to the visible light. Appreciate light source to induce photosensitizing agent is the key of PDT. However, the external excitation light source is a problem for clinical application because of the tissue-penetrating property. Besides, the laser is difficult to match the wavelength absorption of each photosnesitizer. In this study, we used a Renilla luciferse-immobilized quantum dots-655 (RLuc-QDs-655) for bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET)-based PDT to solve the mentioned problems. The bioluminescent RLuc-QDs can exhibit self-illumination at 655 nm after coelenterazine adding. Thus, the HeLa cancer cells were co-treated with RLuc-QDs-655 and a clinical photosensitizer Foscan which can be excited at 652 nm for PDT. Our results showed that the RLuc-QDs-655 can stimulate the Foscan, induce the cell death after coelenterzine adding and the enhanced cytotoxicity can be observed as increased concentration of coelenterazine. Moreover there is no apparent cytotoxicity to photosnsitizer, QD-RLuc8 conjugates and coelenterazine respectively. We believe this novel strategy using self-illuminating QDs may improve the limitation of PDT in clinic.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Nanotechnology 2010: Bio Sensors, Instruments, Medical, Environment and Energy
Published: June 21, 2010
Pages: 490 - 493
Industry sector: Medical & Biotech
Topics: Biomaterials, Cancer Nanotechnology
ISBN: 978-1-4398-3415-2