Specificity of photosensitizer accumulation in undifferentiated versus differentiated colon carcinoma cells

The relationship between tumor cell differentiation and photosensitizer accumulation used in PDT is poorly defined. In the present work, specific cell differentiation of colon carcinoma CT26 cells induced by sodium butyrate was manifested by morphological changes, proliferation and protein expression and was correlated with the accumulation of endogenous and exogenous photosensitizes. Reduced accumulation of the endogenous protoporphyrin IX and the exogenous hypericin and MC540 was detected in differentiated cells. In contrast, a differentiation-dependent increase was measured with TPPS4, TMPyP, the pheophorbides (C5, C6, C12), HypS4 and helianthrone. In conclusion, PpIX, Hypericin and MC540 show specific binding and accumulation in poorly differentiated tumors, giving these tumors tissue-specific advantage in photo-diagnostic PDT applications.