Photodynamic cancer therapy (PDT) is increasingly used for treatment of malignancies and is based on the light-activated generation of singlet oxygen from tetrapyrrolic dyes. In order to developing a systematic method of assessing the efficacy of a range of newly synthesized PDT compounds a high content screening approach was developed using the photosensitizer Foscan and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. The analysis of multi-parametric cellular data identified several robust sensitive cellular markers that strongly indicate the efficacy of Foscan and other photocytotoxic agents. Markers include nuclear and cellular morphology and cellular proliferation and could be verified with MTT assays. This method allows the quantitative evaluation of potential photosensitizing agents with high content imaging and analysis platform technologies. This approach offers a contextual information rich output that permits a deeper understanding of the mechanistic events during the action of these compounds drug in an intact physiological context.

High content screening for the development of novel photosensitizers

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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