Institute of Nano Biomedicine and Engineering, Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment Instrument, Department of Instrument Science and Engineering, School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Cells. 2023 Mar 7;12(6):824. doi: 10.3390/cells12060824.
Due to their low immunogenicity, high biocompatibility and ready availability in large quantities, plant-derived vesicles extracts have attracted considerable interest as a novel nanomaterial in tumor therapy. Bitter melon, a medicinal and edible plant, has been reported to exhibit excellent antitumor effects. It is well-documented that breast cancer gravely endangers women's health, and more effective therapeutic agents must be urgently explored. Therefore, we investigated whether bitter melon-derived vesicles extract (BMVE) has antitumor activity against breast cancer. Ultracentrifugation was used to isolate BMVE with a typical "cup-shaped" structure and an average size of approximately 147 nm from bitter melon juice. The experimental outcomes indicate that 4T1 breast cancer cells could efficiently internalize BMVE, which shows apparent anti-proliferative and migration-inhibiting effects. In addition, BMVE also possesses apoptosis-inducing effects on breast cancer cells, which were achieved by stimulating the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and disrupting mitochondrial function. Furthermore, BMVE could dramatically inhibit tumor growth in vivo with negligible adverse effects. In conclusion, BMVE exhibits a pronounced antitumor effect on 4T1 breast cancer cells, which has great potential for use in tumor therapy.
由于植物来源的囊泡提取物具有低免疫原性、高生物相容性和大量易得等特点，因此作为一种新型纳米材料在肿瘤治疗中引起了相当大的兴趣。苦瓜是一种药食同源的植物，已被报道具有优异的抗肿瘤作用。乳腺癌严重威胁着女性的健康，必须迫切探索更有效的治疗药物，这是有据可查的。因此，我们研究了苦瓜来源的囊泡提取物（BMVE）是否对乳腺癌具有抗肿瘤活性。超速离心法从苦瓜汁中分离出具有典型“杯状”结构和平均大小约 147nm 的 BMVE。实验结果表明，4T1 乳腺癌细胞可以有效地内化 BMVE，表现出明显的抗增殖和迁移抑制作用。此外，BMVE 还通过刺激活性氧（ROS）的产生和破坏线粒体功能对乳腺癌细胞具有诱导凋亡的作用。此外，BMVE 能够在体内显著抑制肿瘤生长，且副作用极小。总之，BMVE 对 4T1 乳腺癌细胞表现出明显的抗肿瘤作用，在肿瘤治疗中有很大的应用潜力。
