Photodiagnostics and photodynamic treatment of stem cells cultivated from human glioblastoma tumors

Porphyrins used as photosensitizers are accumulated selectively in glioblastoma cells due to the latter heme metabolism disorders and could be used effectively for intraoperative fluorescence staining of the tumor formation and differentiation from normal brain parenchyma. The aim of this work was to investigate the photodynamic properties of 5-ALA/PpIX on stem cell cultures isolated from glioblastoma. Supernatant samples of photosensitizer-treated cell lines were used for evaluation of photosensitizers’ accumulation in the cell lines investigated using excitation in the spectral ranges of Soret’ band (360 – 410 nm) and Q-band (600 – 650 nm). The emission detected was used to evaluate the efficacy of the photodynamic treatment during PDT irradiation inducing apoptosis and necrosis processes in cell lines treated with photosensitizers. Several variables were studied, such as histochemical and genetic variants of glioblastoma, and various photosensitizers’ concentrations and light-emitting parameters. The results of this in vitro work will be used as the basis for a further in vivo application on animal models of glioblastoma with applying irradiation using intracranial light sources and for a subsequent transfer of the obtained protocols of photodynamic treatment of glioblastoma lesions in such model systems for the needs of human medicine.