Sundaram Prabhavathi, Dhilip Kumar Sathish Sundar, Abrahamse Heidi
Laser Research Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2028, South Africa.
Pharmaceutics. 2025 Apr 3;17(4):469. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics17040469.
Globally, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third-most diagnosed cancer among males and the second-most diagnosed cancer among females. In cancer, stem cells are a subset of neoplastic cells capable of tumorigenesis and exhibit properties like normal stem cells. Moreover, they are resistant to conventional cancer treatments and can repopulate the tumor following treatment. Cancer cells are stimulated to undergo apoptosis by photodynamic therapy (PDT), which involves a light source, a photosensitizer, and reactive oxygen species. In this study, colon cancer stem cells were isolated from colon cancer cells and characterized using flow cytometry and immunofluorescence techniques. To treat colon cancer stem cells (CCSCs), single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were coupled with hyaluronic acid (HA) and loaded with chlorin-e6 (Ce6). Nanobiocomposite toxicity was assessed using CCSCs with two fluences of 5 J/cm and 10 J/cm. The cellular changes were observed at 24 and 48 h using microscopy, LDH cytotoxicity assay, and cell death induction by annexin propidium iodide assay. An intracellular analysis of reactive oxygen species (ROS) detected oxidative stress within CCSCs. Overall, the results showed that the newly synthesized nanobiocomposite enhanced the ability of PDT to act as a photosensitizer carrier and induced cell death in CCSCs.
在全球范围内，结直肠癌（CRC）是男性中第三大最常被诊断出的癌症，也是女性中第二大最常被诊断出的癌症。在癌症中，干细胞是肿瘤细胞的一个亚群，具有肿瘤发生能力，并表现出与正常干细胞相似的特性。此外，它们对传统癌症治疗具有抗性，并且在治疗后能够使肿瘤重新增殖。癌细胞会被光动力疗法（PDT）刺激而发生凋亡，光动力疗法涉及光源、光敏剂和活性氧。在本研究中，从结肠癌细胞中分离出结肠癌干细胞，并使用流式细胞术和免疫荧光技术对其进行表征。为了治疗结肠癌干细胞（CCSCs），将单壁碳纳米管（SWCNTs）与透明质酸（HA）偶联，并负载二氢卟吩 - e6（Ce6）。使用两种通量分别为5 J/cm²和10 J/cm²的CCSCs评估纳米生物复合材料的毒性。在24小时和48小时时，使用显微镜、乳酸脱氢酶（LDH）细胞毒性测定法以及膜联蛋白碘化丙啶测定法诱导细胞死亡来观察细胞变化。对活性氧（ROS）进行细胞内分析，检测到CCSCs内的氧化应激。总体而言，结果表明新合成的纳米生物复合材料增强了光动力疗法作为光敏剂载体的能力，并诱导了CCSCs的细胞死亡。
