Aminolevulinic Acid (ALA) as a Prodrug in Photodynamic Therapy of Cancer

Molecules

Małgorzata Wachowska¹  Angelika Muchowicz¹  Małgorzata Firczuk¹  Magdalena Gabrysiak¹  Magdalena Winiarska¹  Małgorzata Wańczyk¹  Kamil Bojarczuk¹ 

[1] ¹Department of Immunology, Centre of Biostructure Research, Medical University of Warsaw, Banacha 1A F Building, 02-097 Warsaw, Poland ²Department III, Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, 01-224 Warsaw, Poland

关键词: 5-aminolevulinic acid;    photodynamic therapy;    cancer;    laser;    singlet oxygen;   

DOI  :  10.3390/molecules16054140

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is an endogenous metabolite normally formed in the mitochondria from succinyl-CoA and glycine. Conjugation of eight ALA molecules yields protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) and finally leads to formation of heme. Conversion of PpIX to its downstream substrates requires the activity of a rate-limiting enzyme ferrochelatase. When ALA is administered externally the abundantly produced PpIX cannot be quickly converted to its final product - heme by ferrochelatase and therefore accumulates within cells. Since PpIX is a potent photosensitizer this metabolic pathway can be exploited in photodynamic therapy (PDT). This is an already approved therapeutic strategy making ALA one of the most successful prodrugs used in cancer treatment.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.