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Article Addendum

Initiation of Apoptosis and Autophagy by Photodynamic Therapy

David Kessel, M. Graça H. Vicente and John J. Reiners Jr.

volume 2 | issue 4

October/November/December 2006
Pages: 285 - 286

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This study was designed to examine modes of cell death after photodynamic therapy (PDT). Murine leukemia L1210 cells and human prostate Bax-deficient DU-145 cells were examined after PDT-induced photodamage to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Previous studies indicated that this resulted in a substantial loss of Bcl-2 function. Both apoptosis and autophagy occurred in L1210 after ER photodamage with the latter predominating after 24 hr. These processes were characterized by altered cellular morphology, chromatin condensation, loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, and formation vacuoles containing cytosolic components. Western blots demonstrated processing of LC3-I to LC3-II, a marker for autophagy. Inhibitors of apoptosis and/or autophagy were then used to delineate the contributions of the two pathways to the effects of PDT. In DU145 cells, PDT initiated only autophagy. PI3-kinase inhibitors suppressed autophagy in both cell lines as indicated by inhibition of vacuolization and LC3 processing. Autophagy may play a role in the ability of photodynamic therapy to stimulate immunologic recognition of target cells.

Addendum to
Initiation of Apoptosis and Autophagy by Photodynamic Therapy
D. Kessel, M.G.H. Vicente and J.J. Reiners Jr.
Lasers Surg Med 2006; In press



We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
 Download PDF

If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.