Effects of electrophotodynamic therapy in vitro on human melanoma cells – melanotic (MeWo) and amelanotic (C32)

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy has been considered ineffective for melanomas because of the competition between the absorbance of melanin from the melanoma and the absorbance of photosensitizers at the photosensitizer excitation light wavelength. Melanomas show considerable heterogeneity and resistance to phototherapy. The effectiveness of photodynamic therapy could be intensified by electroporation for enhanced transport of a photosensitizer by transient pores in the membrane. In this study, photodynamic therapy combined with electroporation was tested in vitro on the human melanoma cell lines melanotic melanoma (MeWo) and amelanotic melanoma (C32). Control experiments were conducted on human keratinocytes (HaCaT). Photofrin was used as a photosensitizer. Photosensitizer distribution, cloning efficacy test, comet assay, and assessment of apoptotic proteins were performed. Melanin levels were determined before and after photodynamic therapy. The experiments indicated that electroporation effectively supports the photodynamic method. It was found that photodynamic therapy with electroporation efficiently induces apoptosis in melanotic and amelanotic melanoma cells.

Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester Assisted by Reversible Electroporation—In Vitro Study on Human Melanoma Cells

“…After trypsinization and centrifugation (5 min, 1000 rpm), cells were counted (cells density = 3 × 10 6 cells/mL) and resuspended in 200 µL of EP buffer or EP buffer with CAPE. The electroporation protocol was chosen based on previous studies [ 22 , 23 ] in which non-toxic electroporation parameters were established for Me45 and MeWo cell lines. These parameters were as follows: eight pulses with 100-µs pulse duration with a 1-s interval; electrical fields of 1000 V/cm.…”

Skin cancer: understanding the journey of transformation from conventional to advanced treatment approaches

“…Through temporary membrane holes, the method improved the photosensitizer's intracellular trafficking. In vitro, the technique proved more effective than PDT alone at inducing apoptosis in human melanoma cell lines that were both amelanotic (C32) and melanotic (MeWo) [ 181 ].…”

Recent Advances in Electrochemotherapy

“…Among many compounds tested, that is, doxorubicin, 36 ruthenium (III) compound, 37 5-fluorouracil, 38 phthalocyanines, 39 photofrin, 40 curcumin, 41 the trans-platinum analogue trans-[PtCl 2 (3-hmpy) 2 ], 42 oxaliplatin, 43 betulinic acid, 44,45 oat b-glucan, 46 cyanine IR-775, 47 catechin, 48 and sodium decahydrodecaborate, 49 only calcium electroporation was extensively studied. [50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58] Calcium electroporation effectively causes tumor necrosis, leaving the normal tissue less affected, making it a very promising compound for further clinical evaluation as it does not belong to the antineoplastic drugs, thus precautions related to antineoplastic drugs regarding storage, handling, disposal, and toxicity and mutagenicity are not an issue for calcium electroporation.…”