Journal of Analytical & Bioanalytical Techniques
Open Access

Review Article

Why Not Introducing the Third Dimension in Photodynamic Therapy Research?

Alemany-Ribes M¹, García-Díaz M¹, Acedo P³, Agut M¹, Nonell S¹, Sagristá ML², Mora M², Cañete M³, Villanueva A³, Stockert JC³ and Semino CE^1*

¹IQS School of Engineering, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona, Spain

²Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

³Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

*Corresponding Author:

Carlos E Semino
IQS School of Engineering
Ramon Llull University
Via Augusta 390, 08017 Barcelona, Spain
E-mail: carlos.semino@iqs.url.edu

Received date: May 03, 2013; Accepted date: June 17, 2013; Published date: June 19, 2013

Citation: Alemany-Ribes M, García-Díaz M, Acedo P, Agut M, Nonell S, et al. (2013) Why Not Introducing the Third Dimension in Photodynamic Therapy Research? J Anal Bioanal Tech S1:004. doi: 10.4172/2155-9872.S1-004

Copyright: © 2013 Alemany-Ribes M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which ermits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a clinically approved procedure for the treatment of diseases characterized by uncontrolled cell proliferation, particularly cancer. It involves the administration of a photosensitizer (PS) that is able to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) upon irradiation with light, leading to the selective killing of neoplastic cells. A major challenge in PDT is the development of new PSs and drug-delivery systems that improve therapy efficacy and selectivity. To succeed in drug screening, it is crucial to use cellular systems that precisely reproduce the phenotype of the target tissue in order to obtain reliable biomedical data that correlate with in vivo tests. In this way, three-dimensional (3D) cultures are particularly attractive since they integrate chemical and mechanical signals that arise from extracellular matrix (ECM) and adjacent cells. Importantly, 3D models can mimic in vivo gene expression pattern and molecular gradients. These features significantly affect the outcome of PDT, enhancing the predictive power of 3D models. Therefore, PDT research should rely on the exploitation of this third dimension, guaranteeing a custom-tailor design depending on the tissue to be modeled, an easy applicability and reproducibility. The review summarizes progress in this emerging area.

Keywords