抄録
Curcumin (Cur), a naturally occurring polyphenol, is one of the most extensively investigated photochemicals with chemopreventive effect. Quantum Dots (QDs), a promising nanoparticle as a photosensitizer, have been used in photodynamic therapy (PDT). Although the cytotoxicity of QDs has been studied, little is known about the genotoxic effect of QDs on human health. Moreover, the effect of co-treatment with QDs and Cur under UVA has not been studied yet. In this study, we examined the cytotoxic and genotoxic effect of CdSe/ZnS QDs and/or Cur under the UVA (2J/cm2) to investigate the selective effect on HL-60 cells and normal human lymphocytes.
The cell viability was measured by WST assay and the apoptotic cell death was investigated by flow cytometry. We performed comet assay and micronuclei assay to examine genotoxic effect. Treatment with QDs under the UVA decreased cell viability and increased apoptotic cell death in HL-60 cells and normal human lymphocytes. Cur and QDs/UVA decreased cell viability and induced apoptosis compared with the QDs/UVA in HL-60 cells, whereas no significant cell death was observed in normal human lymphocytes. When HL-60 cells were exposed to Cur and QDs/UVA, the frequency of micronuclei and induction of olive tail moment were increased.
In conclusion, Cur and QDs/UVA enhanced more cell death than QDs/UVA in HL-60 cells. This suggests that a treatment of Cur could be useful to increase the efficacy in PDT.
