{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,23]],"date-time":"2026-08-23T16:31:44Z","timestamp":1787502704835,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"23","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,29]],"date-time":"2023-11-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1701216000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100009687","name":"Wroclaw Medical University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["SUBZ.A430.23.075"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SUBZ.A430.23.075"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100009687","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The aim of this study was to explore the potential of hypericin, a naturally occurring photosensi-tizer, for photodynamic therapy (PDT) in skin cancer, investigating its phototoxic effects and mechanisms of action in cancer cells compared to normal skin keratinocytes, squamous cell cancer (SCC-25) cells and melanoma (MUG-Mel2) cells. Hypericin was applied at concentrations ranging from 0.1\u201340 \u03bcM to HaCaT, SCC-25, and MUG-Mel2 cells. After 24 h of incubation, the cells were exposed to orange light at 3.6 J\/cm2 or 7.2 J\/cm2. Phototoxicity was assessed using MTT and SRB tests. Cellular uptake was measured by flow cytometry. Apoptosis-positive cells were estimated through TUNEL for apoptotic bodies\u2019 visualization. Hypericin exhibited a higher phototoxic reaction in cancer cells compared to normal keratinocytes after irradiation. Cancer cells demonstrated increased and selective uptake of hypericin. Apoptosis was observed in SCC-25 and MUG-Mel2 cells following PDT. Our findings suggest that hypericin-based PDT is a promising and less invasive approach for treating skin cancer. The higher phototoxic reaction, selective uptake by cancer cells, and observed proapoptotic properties support the promising role of hypericin-based PDT in skin cancer treatment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms242316897","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,29]],"date-time":"2023-11-29T03:48:24Z","timestamp":1701229704000},"page":"16897","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":25,"title":["Hypericin-Based Photodynamic Therapy Displays Higher Selectivity and Phototoxicity towards Melanoma and Squamous Cell Cancer Compared to Normal Keratinocytes In Vitro"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7978-6330","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marta","family":"Wo\u017aniak","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical and Experimental Pathology, Division of General and Experimental Pathology, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-368 Wroclaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8741-377X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Martyna","family":"Nowak-Perlak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical and Experimental Pathology, Division of General and Experimental Pathology, Wroclaw Medical University, 50-368 Wroclaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/15422119.2020.1797792","article-title":"Hypericin: Source, Determination, Separation, and Properties","volume":"51","author":"Zhang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sep. 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