Porphin e6 complex loaded with gold nanorod mesoporous silica enhances photodynamic therapy in ovarian cancer cells in vitro

AbstractA growing amount of experimental evidence has proven that the application of gold nanorods (AuNRs) in photodynamic therapy (PDT) can significantly enhance its therapeutic efficacy. The aim of this study was to establish a protocol for investigating the effect of gold nanorods loaded with the photosensitizer chlorin e6 (Ce6) on photodynamic therapy in the OVCAR3 human ovarian cancer cell line in vitro and to determine whether the PDT effect was different from that of Ce6 alone. OVCAR3 cells were randomly divided into three groups: the control group, Ce6-PDT group, and AuNRs@SiO2@Ce6-PDT group. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. The generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was measured by a fluorescence microplate reader. Cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. The expression of apoptotic proteins was detected by immunofluorescence and western blotting. The results showed that compared with that of the Ce6-PDT group, the cell viability of the AuNRs@SiO2@Ce6-PDT group was significantly decreased (P< 0.05) in a dose-dependent manner, and ROS production increased significantly (P< 0.05). The flow cytometry results showed that the proportion of apoptotic cells in the AuNRs@SiO2@Ce6-PDT group was significantly higher than that in the Ce6-PDT group (P< 0.05). Immunofluorescence and western blot results showed that the protein expression levels of cleaved caspase-9, cleaved caspase-3, cleaved PARP, and Bax in the AuNRs@SiO2@Ce6-PDT-treated-OVCAR3 cell...
Source: Lasers in Medical Science - Category: Laser Surgery Source Type: research