Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura university, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
Int J Nanomedicine. 2024 Feb 5;19:1109-1124. doi: 10.2147/IJN.S445206. eCollection 2024.
Liver cancer is the sixth most prevalent form of cancer and the second major cause of cancer-associated mortalities worldwide. Cancer nanotechnology has the ability to fundamentally alter cancer treatment, diagnosis, and detection.
In this study, we explained the development of graphene oxide/polyethylene glycol/folic acid/brucine nanocomposites (GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs) and evaluated their antimicrobial and anticancer effect on the liver cancer HepG2 cells.
The GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs were prepared using the co-precipitation technique and characterized using various techniques. The cytotoxicity of the GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs was tested against both liver cancer HepG2 and non-malignant Vero cells using an MTT assay. The antimicrobial activity of the GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs was tested against several pathogens using the well diffusion technique. The effects of GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs on endogenous ROS accumulation, apoptosis, and MMP levels were examined using corresponding fluorescent staining assays, respectively. The apoptotic protein expressions, such as Bax, Bcl-2, and caspases, were studied using the corresponding kits.
The findings of various characterization assays revealed the development of GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs with face-centered spherical morphology and an agglomerated appearance with an average size of 197.40 nm. The GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs treatment remarkably inhibited the growth of the tested pathogens. The findings of the MTT assay evidenced that the GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs effectively reduced the HepG2 cell growth while not showing toxicity to the Vero cells. The findings of the fluorescent assay proved that the GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs increased ROS generation, reduced MMP levels, and promoted apoptosis in the HepG2 cells. The levels of Bax, caspase-9, and -3 were increased, and Bcl-2 was reduced in the GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs-treated HepG2 cells.
The results of this work demonstrate that GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs suppress viability and induce apoptosis in HepG2 cells, indicating their potential as an anticancer candidate.
肝癌是全球第六大常见癌症,也是癌症相关死亡的第二大主要原因。癌症纳米技术有能力从根本上改变癌症的治疗、诊断和检测方式。
本研究中,我们解释了氧化石墨烯/聚乙二醇/叶酸/马钱子碱纳米复合材料(GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs)的开发,并评估了其对肝癌 HepG2 细胞的抗菌和抗癌作用。
采用共沉淀技术制备 GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs,并采用多种技术对其进行表征。采用 MTT 法检测 GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs 对肝癌 HepG2 和非恶性 Vero 细胞的细胞毒性。采用平板扩散法检测 GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs 对几种病原体的抗菌活性。采用相应的荧光染色法分别检测 GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs 对内源性 ROS 积累、凋亡和 MMP 水平的影响。采用相应试剂盒研究 GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs 对凋亡蛋白表达的影响,如 Bax、Bcl-2 和 caspase。
各种特征分析结果表明,成功制备了具有面心立方球形形态和团聚外观的 GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs,平均粒径为 197.40nm。GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs 处理显著抑制了受试病原体的生长。MTT 检测结果表明,GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs 有效抑制 HepG2 细胞生长,而对 Vero 细胞无毒性。荧光检测结果证明,GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs 增加了 HepG2 细胞中 ROS 的产生,降低了 MMP 水平,并促进了其凋亡。GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs 处理的 HepG2 细胞中 Bax、caspase-9 和 caspase-3 水平升高,Bcl-2 水平降低。
本工作结果表明,GO/PEG/Bru-FA NCs 抑制 HepG2 细胞活力并诱导其凋亡,表明其具有作为抗癌候选物的潜力。