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Dye-mediated Photosensitization of Murine Neuroblastoma Cells¹

Department of Medicine [F. S.] and Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy [M. S-B.], The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205

The purpose of this study was to determine if photosensitization mediated by the fluorescent dye, merocyanine 540, could be used to preferentially kill murine neuroblastoma cells in simulated autologous remission marrow grafts. Simultaneous exposure of Neuro 2a or NB41A3 neuroblastoma cells to merocyanine 540 and white light reduced the concentration of in vitro-clonogenic tumor cells 50,000-fold. By contrast, the same treatment had little effect on the graft's ability to rescue lethally irradiated syngeneic hosts. Lethally irradiated C57BL/6J x A/J F₁ mice transplanted with photosensitized mixtures of neuroblastoma cells and normal marrow cells (1:100 or 1:10) survived without developing neuroblastomas. It is conceivable that merocyanine 540-mediated photosensitization will prove useful for the extracorporeal purging of residual neuroblastoma cells from human autologous remission marrow grafts.

¹ Supported by Grant AM 27157 from the National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; Grant HD 15311 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and Institutional Research Grant 1N-11W from the American Cancer Society.

² Leukemia Society of America scholar. To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at The Midwest Children's Cancer Center, Department of Pediatrics, Medical College of Wisconsin, 1700 West Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53233.

Received 8/ 9/85. Revised 11/26/85. Accepted 12/11/85.