The correlation between hydrophilicity of hypericins and helianthrone: internalization mechanisms, subcellular distribution and photodynamic action in colon carcinoma cells.

The internalization mechanism and subcellular distribution of hypericin (Hyp), hypericin tetrasulfonic acid (HypS4) and 1,3,4,6-tetrahydroxyhelianthrone (Hel) were studied in murine colon carcinoma CT26 cells, in protein-free medium or in the presence of serum proteins. The correlation between the extent of uptake of the sensitizers by cells that were incubated in the presence of different serum components, and the internalization mechanisms, was studied. The results indicate that sensitizer internalization may be a result of three mechanisms: partitioning, pinocytosis and endocytosis, and as a direct consequence is targeted to specific subcellular sites. While Hyp and Hel, the two lipophilic sensitizers, were localized in the endoplasmic reticulum after protein-free internalization, the hydrophilic HypS4 was localized in the cytoplasmic membrane and in lysosomes. An endolysosomal internalization route was revealed for Hyp and Hel under serum-enriched conditions showing lysosomal localization, as for HypS4. The lysosomal accumulation of Hyp-serum and specifically Hyp-LDL points to an endocytotic mechanism which is supported by its higher uptake parameter in an LDL-enriched medium, compared to the medium with 10% serum. The different uptake parameters of Hyp to cells, with or without serum, reflect the different mechanisms. Smaller differences in the uptake parameter for HypS4 reflect the distinction between partitioning and endocytosis, which, in this case, are both targeted to the lysosomes. The same uptake parameter of Hel to cells incubated in media with or without serum indicates the absence of the endocytotic mechanism. The interrelationship between subcellular targeting and photodynamic treatment was shown for the three sensitizers Hyp was found to be the most efficient sensitizer for PDT under our illumination protocol and it was dependent on internalization and localization sites.