Protoporphyrin IX

Protoporphyrin IX is a final intermediate in the heme biosynthetic pathway, which acts as a radiation sensitizer enhancing ROS generation even in a hypoxic state and inducing DNA damage. Protoporphyrin IX also acts as a photo sensitizer undergoing photobleaching that occurs through direct degradation by light irradiation. Protoporphyrin IX is formed and accumulated following 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) administration in the tumor cells of rats. Protoporphyrin IX causes selective improvement of basal cell carcinoma when activated red fluorescence of a peak wavelength at 405 nm. Protoporphyrin IX is promising for research of sonodynamic and photodynamic agents for a wide range of cancers, such as bladder cancer and nodular basal cell carcinoma[1][2][3][4][5].