Abstract

The important medicai applications of porphyrin-sensitized photoprocesses, especially the photodynamic therapy of tumors,¹ are stimulating intense research on the (photo)-interactions of porphyrins with normal and malignant cells.^2,3 We used both normal and neoplastic hepatocytes, isolated from rat liver, and HeLa cells as targets for the photosensitizing action of porphyrins with different chemical structures and physicochemical properties. Cells were incubated at 37°C for various periods of time with 0.1-10 μg/ml of porphyrins, which were either dissolved in pH 7.4 buffered aqueous solution or incorporated into unilamellar liposomes of dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC). Parallel in vivo experiments on the distribution and subcellular localization of aqueous and liposomal porphyrins (5–10 mg/kg of body weight) were performed with mice bearing a MBL-2 lymphoma and rats affected by AH-130 Yoshida hepatoma.

© 1984 Optical Society of America