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Synthesis and Calibration of Phosphorescent Nanoprobes for Oxygen Imaging in Biological Systems
Published on: March 3, 2010
Sensitive detection of PDT-induced cell damages with luminescent oxygen nanosensors
Hong-Ru Ma1, Hong-Shang Peng, Fang-Tian You
1College of Science, Minzu University of China, Beijing 100081, People's Republic of China. Key Laboratory of Luminescence and Optical Information, Ministry of Education, Institute of Optoelectronic Technology, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
In this work luminescent nanosensors specifically created for intracellular oxygen (ic-O2) were utilized to assess photodynamic therapy (PDT) -induced cell damages. Firstly, ic-O2 was demonstrated to be consumed much faster than extracellular O2 with respective O2 nanosensors. Using the ic-O2 nanosensors, PDT-treated cells with different degree of impairment were then resolved according to the oxygen consumption rate (OCR). The evolving trend of cytotoxicity derived from OCRs was in agreement with cell viability obtained from 3-(4,5-cimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Moreover, the direct damage of PDT on cell mitochondria was successfully detected by monitoring respiration instantly after PDT treatment, which is actually beyond the scope of MTT assay. These results suggest that fluorescence sensing of ic-O2-associated cell respiration is promising and even may become a standardized method, complementary to MTT assay, to evaluate PDT-induced cytotoxicity.

