Regenerative capacity of cultured neurons following photodynamic therapy in a 3D collagen gel culture system

INTRODUCTION: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a promising treatment modality for cancer which involves administration of a photosensitising agent that can be activated subsequently within a patient’s cells, resulting in cell death from oxidative damage. Peripheral nerve sparing has been reported following PDT with the photosensitiser meta-(tetra-hydroxyphenyl) chlorin (mTHPC) [1 & 2]. Dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons have been shown to be relatively insensitive to mTHPC-PDT doses that killed other cell types in a 3D collagen culture system [3]. The aim here was to determine the extent to which ‘surviving’ neurons were able to sprout neurites as an indication of functional recovery following PDT .