Visible light effects on tumoral cells in a culture medium enriched with tryptophan and riboflavin.

When NSO/2 myeloid cell line and teratocarcinoma F9 cells were irradiated in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium enriched with tryptophan and riboflavin, toxic photoproducts for these tumoral cells were generated. The active participation of 1O2 and .OH was established using specific scavengers and quenchers. A cytotoxic effect was also observed when unirradiated tumoral cells were incubated in a previously irradiated culture medium enriched with tryptophan and riboflavin. When irradiated medium was used alone, enriched only with tryptophan or only with riboflavin, no toxic effect was observed. The relevance of charge transfer processes between triplet riboflavin and tryptophan in the generation of cytotoxic photoproducts is discussed.