The Effectiveness of a Portable Fluorescence Spectrophotometer for Early Detection of Oral Cancer

Purpose: To investigate whether photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) using a portable fluorescence spectrophotometer (FC-1) can easily and objectively discriminate between normal and tumor cells at the dental chairside, and to further compare it with PDD that requires speculum examination by focusing on protoporphyrin IX (PPIX). Methods: Three cell lines (2 human oral squamous cell carcinoma-derived cell lines, HSC-2 and HSC-3 cells, and oral keratinocytes, HOK cells) were cultured. 5-Aminolevulinic acid hydrochloride (5-ALA) and deferoxamine mesylate (DFO) were mixed in DMEM, and the mixture was set to Control (DMEM only) and PDD (5-ALA+DFO) groups. And then, a fluorescence was measured under room temperature (RT) and 37°C (Incubation) by using FC-1. In this study, the two conditions were combined with the Control and PDD groups to form the Control/RT, Control/Incubate, PDD/RT, and PDD/Incubate groups. Additionally, the amount of singlet oxygen (1O2) generated by irradiation with 405 nm LED was measured using electron spin resonance spectroscopy to detect PPIX in the cell supernatant after 24 hours. Results: In HSC-2 and HSC-3, the fluorescence intensity values increased significantly at 2 hours between the Control/RT and PDD/RT groups. In addition, there was a significant difference between HSC-2 and HSC-3 compared to HOK. In all cell lines, the fluorescence intensity values of the PDD/Incubate group were significantly higher than those of the PDD/Control group. The amount of 1O2 generated by 405 nm LED irradiation was higher in the cell supernatants of all cell lines in the order of Control/RT < Control/Incubate < PDD/RT < PDD/Incubate group, and HSC-3 in the PDD/Incubate group showed a significant increase compared to HOK. Conclusion: It is suggested that PDD using FC-1 can clearly distinguish between normal cells and tumor cells in vitro studies using cell lines at 2 hours under 37°C, and it can detect not only intracellular PPIX, but also extracellular PPIX.

Self-Assembling Peptide as a Candidate Carrier for 5-Fluorouracil

The potential application of a designed self-assembly peptide CH3CO-Pro-Thr-Phe-CysPhe-Lys-Phe-Glu-Pro-NH2（named as P1） as a carrier of 5-Fluorouracil（5-Fu） for controlled release in vitro was studied. 5-Fluorouracil（5-Fu） was selected as a representative anticancer drug due to its extensive use in treating digestive system cancer and breast cancer. The interaction between P1 and 5-Fu was detected by fluorescent quenching experiments and atomic force microscopy（AFM）. The quenching mechanism of 5-Fu and P1 system was dynamic by performing fluorescent quenching experiments at different temperatures. The thermodynamic analysis demonstrated that the interaction between 5-Fu and P1 was hydrophobic interaction. The complexes prepared by the interaction between peptide and 5-Fu appeared as large granular particles of about 20 nm in height under AFM（denoted as5-Fu-P1）, 24 times larger than the original 5-Fu particles. According to the results, an interaction model was proposed. Furthermore, 5-Fu-P1 complexes exhibited an efficient controlled release of 5-Fu in vitro. The research suggested that P1 might be a candidate carrier for drug delivery, providing a substitution agent for 5-Fu.

Correlation between hair selenium concentration and gastric cancer

To investigate the correlation between hair selenium （Se） level and gastric cancer. Methods： Atomic fluorescence spectrophotometer（AFS） was used to detect the Se level in hair. Results： The Se concentration in patients with gastric cancer ranged from 0.25 to 2.33 μg/g（0.825 ± 0.51 μg/g）, and that of health individuals ranged from 4.23 to 9.21 μg/g（6.29± 1.68 μg/g）. The results showed that the Se concentration in the patients＇ hair was significantly lower than that in controls （P 〈 0.01）. Conclusion： There is a correlation between hair concentration and gastric cancer.