N-acetyl Glucosamine Distribution and Mitochondrial Activity of Tumor Cell Exposed to Photodynamic Therapy

The use of lectins can play an important role for tracking modification on cell surface components, since lectins can be easily complexed with radioisotopes, biotin or fluorescein, facilitating the evaluation of carbohydrates distribution in the cell and mitochondrial activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate photodynamic therapy effects on indirect distribution of N-acetyl-glucosamine terminal glycoproteins, in human laryngeal carcinoma HEp-2 cell line surface, using lectin wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and on mitochondrial activity, for the same cell line, using MitoTracker. The photosensitizer Aluminum Phthalocyanine Tetrasulfonate (AlPcS₄) was administrated at 10 μM/mL, followed by an incubation period for its accumulation in the tumor cells, which were irradiated with laser diode λ = 685 nm and energy density of 4.5 J/cm². Our results indicated that, after Photodynamic Therapy (PDT), it was observed N-acetyl glucosamine terminal glycoprotein expression and mitochondrial O₂ production, compared to the control group. Based on these results, we suggest that PDT influences the O₂ mitochondrial production and the presence of surface glycoproteins N-acetyl glucosamine terminals.