Int J Biol Sci 2017; 13(3):319-326. doi:10.7150/ijbs.17920 This issue
Research Paper
1. Department of Dermatology, the Second Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan 250033, Shandong, China.
2. Department of Hematology, the Second Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan 250033, Shandong, China.
3. Department of Plastic Surgery, the Second Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan 250033, Shandong, China.
4. Central Research Laboratory, the Second Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan 250033, Shandong, China.
5. Department of Dermatology, Peking University International Hospital, Beijing 102206, China.
* These authors contributed equally to this work.
Keloid is a common and refractory disease characterized by abnormal fibroblast proliferation and excessive deposition of extracellular matrix components. Hypocrellin B (HB) is a natural perylene quinone photosensitizer. In this experiment, we studied the effects of photodynamic therapy (PDT) using yellow light from light-emitting diode (LED) combined with HB on keloid fibroblasts (KFB) in vitro. Our results showed that HB-LED PDT treatment induced significant KFB apoptosis and decreased KFB cell viability. HB-LED PDT treatment lead to significant BAX upregulation and BCL-2 downregulation in KFB cells, which led to elevation of intracellular free Ca2+ and activation of caspase-3. Our data provides preliminary evidence for the potential of HB-LED PDT as a therapeutic strategy for keloid.
Keywords: keloid fibroblasts, Hypocrellin B, photodynamic therapy, apoptosis