Golestani Parisa, Homayouni Tabrizi Masoud, Karimi Ehsan, Soltani Mozhgan
Department of Biology, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran.
Discov Oncol. 2024 Sep 27;15(1):471. doi: 10.1007/s12672-024-01345-x.
Pancreatic and Gastric cancers are very aggressive and deadly types of cancer that require effective treatment strategies to stop their progression. Nano-drug delivery systems, like those using Auraptene-loaded GQD nanoparticles, play a crucial role in addressing this need by delivering targeted and controlled treatments to cancer cells, making treatment more effective, and reducing side effects. The study focused on investigating the effects of Auraptene, an efficient anticancer compound when loaded into Graphene Quantum Dots (GQDs) on types of human cancer cells.
To create auraptene-loaded graphene quantum dot nanoparticles (AGQD-NP) (Unmodified and modified types) a combination of hydrothermal and high-energy homogenization methods was used. The nanoparticles were characterized by conducting DLS (Dynamic light scattering), FTIR (Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy), FESEM (Field Emission Scanning Electron microscopy), and zeta potential analysis. bioactivity of AGQD-NP was assessed through tests, including antioxidant capacity measured by ABTS and DPPH scavenging abilities well as cytotoxicity tested using MTT assay on both human cancer cell lines and normal human vascular endothelial cells.
The modified AGQD-NP (M-AGQD-NP) demonstrated antioxidant properties by neutralizing free radicals. They also displayed selective toxicity, towards human gastric adenocarcinoma cell-line (AGS) and human pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PANC) cancer cells with IC50 values recorded at 78.8 µg/mL and 89.72 µg/mL respectively. The specific targeting of gastric cancer cells was evident from the differing IC values compared to the Human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7), Human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (Hella), and normal vascular endothelial cells (Huvec). Additionally, the induced apoptotic death, in the human pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PANC) cancer cells was confirmed through AO/PI staining and Annexin-based flow cytometry revealing increased expression levels of P53, Caspase3, BAX, and Caspase8.
In summary, the M-AGQD-NP have shown encouraging effects displaying antioxidant capabilities and a specific focus, on pancreatic and gastric cancer cells. These findings indicate uses for AGQD-NP as an efficient apoptosis inducer in cancer treatment. Additional In-vivo researches are required to validate their effectiveness, in living organisms.
胰腺癌和胃癌是极具侵袭性和致命性的癌症类型，需要有效的治疗策略来阻止其进展。纳米药物递送系统，如使用负载金雀异黄素的石墨烯量子点纳米颗粒的系统，通过向癌细胞提供靶向和可控治疗，在满足这一需求方面发挥着关键作用，使治疗更有效，并减少副作用。该研究重点调查了负载于石墨烯量子点（GQDs）中的高效抗癌化合物金雀异黄素对人类癌细胞类型的影响。
为制备负载金雀异黄素的石墨烯量子点纳米颗粒（AGQD-NP）（未修饰型和修饰型），采用了水热法和高能均质化方法相结合。通过动态光散射（DLS）、傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）、场发射扫描电子显微镜（FESEM）和zeta电位分析对纳米颗粒进行表征。通过测试评估AGQD-NP的生物活性，包括用ABTS法测定抗氧化能力和DPPH清除能力，以及使用MTT法对人类癌细胞系和正常人血管内皮细胞进行细胞毒性测试。
修饰后的AGQD-NP（M-AGQD-NP）通过中和自由基表现出抗氧化特性。它们还对人胃腺癌细胞系（AGS）和人胰腺腺癌（PANC）癌细胞表现出选择性毒性，IC50值分别为78.8μg/mL和89.72μg/mL。与人类乳腺腺癌细胞系（MCF-7）、人类肝癌细胞系（Hella）和正常血管内皮细胞（Huvec）相比，不同的IC值表明对胃癌细胞具有特异性靶向作用。此外，通过AO/PI染色和基于膜联蛋白的流式细胞术证实了人胰腺腺癌（PANC）癌细胞中诱导的凋亡死亡，显示P53、Caspase3、BAX和Caspase8的表达水平增加。
总之，M-AGQD-NP显示出令人鼓舞的效果，具有抗氧化能力，并对胰腺和胃癌细胞具有特异性靶向作用。这些发现表明AGQD-NP可作为癌症治疗中一种有效的凋亡诱导剂。需要进一步的体内研究来验证它们在活生物体中的有效性。
