Effect of photodynamic therapy with hypocrellin B on apoptosis, adhesion, and migration of cancer cells

Purpose: In the present study, we investigated effects of photodynamic therapy with hypocrellin B on apoptosis, adhesion, and migration of cancer cells in vitro. Materials and methods: Human ovarian cancer HO-8910 cell as a cancer model cell was incubated with hypocrellin B at a concentration of 2.5 mu m M for 5 h and irradiated by light from a light-emitting diodes (LED) source. Cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry with annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) staining and nuclear staining 6 h after hypocrellin B photoirradiation. Cell adhesion was assessed using the 3-(4, 5-dimthylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5 diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay 4 h after photodynamic treatment. Cell migration was measured 48 h after photodynamic treatment. Results: Flow cytometry with annexin V/PI staining showed that early apoptotic and late apoptotic (necrotic) rates following photodynamic therapy with hypocrellin B markedly increased to 16.40% and 24.67%, respectively. Nuclear staining found nuclear condensation and typical apoptotic body in the treated cells. The number of cell migration was significantly decreased to 183 +/- 28 after photodynamic therapy with hypocrellin B (p < 0.01). Light irradiation alone and hypocrellin B alone had no significant effect on cell migration. The cell adhesion inhibitory rate due to photodynamic action of hypocrellin B was 53.2 +/- 1.8%, significantly higher than 2.7 +/- 2.1% of light treatment alone and 1.0 +/- 0.4% of hypocrellin B treatment alone (p < 0.01). Conclusion: The findings demonstrated that photodynamic therapy with hypocrellin B remarkably induced apoptosis and inhibited adhesion and migration of cancer cells in vitro.