Photodynamic Therapy in a 3D Model of Ovarian Cancer

Shubhankar Nath; Kaitlin Moore

doi:10.21769/BioProtoc.3314

Photodynamic Therapy in a 3D Model of Ovarian Cancer

Bio Protoc. 2019 Aug 5;9(15):e3314. doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3314.

Authors

Shubhankar Nath¹, Kaitlin Moore²

Affiliations

¹ Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital-Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
² Bouve College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, USA.

Abstract

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), is a clinically-approved light-based anti-cancer treatment modality in which a photoactivatable photosensitizer is irradiated with an appropriate wavelength of light to generate cytotoxic molecules to kill cancer cells. In this article, we describe an in vitro PDT protocol using a 3-dimensional (3D) model of ovarian cancer that was established on beds of Matrigel. PDT was performed using a liposomal formulation of verteporfin photosensitizer (Visudyne^®). The cancer cells were genetically-labeled with the fluorescent protein mCherry to facilitate the evaluation of the treatment response. This protocol is advantageous because the mCherry fluorescence is an indicator of cell viability, eliminating the need for external dyes, which often exhibit limited penetration and diffusion into 3D organoids. Additionally, Visudyne PDT achieves significant tumor-killing efficacy in a 3D model for ovarian cancer.

Keywords: 3D model; Light-based therapies; Ovarian cancer; Photodynamic therapy; Photosensitizer; Visudyne.