Ex vivo — Investigations on ALA-induced Porphyrins

Abstract

ALA-induced porphyrin accumulation was measured in different cells: normal fibroblasts, liver carcinoma cells (HepG2) and melanoma cells (SK-Mel-28). Cells were floated in 10 ml Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM; ICN-Flow, Irvine Scotland), supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS), penicillin (400 µg/ml/), streptomycin (50 µg/ml) and glutamine (300 µg/ml). Cells were incubated with 1 mM ALA (16.76 mg in 100 ml DMEM) for 36 hours. Incubation was performed in an atmosphere of humidified air with 5% CO₂ and 95% air in the dark. Porphyrin analysis was performed prior to, and at 1, 2, 4, 8,16, 24 and 36 h of incubation. Cell viability was controlled by MTT-Test.