Incorporation of magnetic NaX zeolite/DOX into the PLA/chitosan nanofibers for sustained release of doxorubicin against carcinoma cells death in vitro.

In the present study, the magnetic NaX nanozeolites were synthesized via microwave heating method and loaded into the PLA/chitosan solution. Doxorubicin (DOX) as an anticancer drug was simultaneously incorporated into the PLA/chitosan solution and the electrospinning process was used to fabricate the PLA/chitosan/NaX/Fe3O4/DOX nanofibers for sustained release of DOX against carcinoma cells death. The synthesized nanozeolites were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to determine the morphology and fiber diameter distribution of synthesized nanofibers. The DOX loading efficiency and in vitro DOX release profiles from nanofibers were investigated. The kinetic models including zero-order, Higuchi and Korsmeyer-Peppas were used to analyze the release mechanism of DOX from nanofibers. The effect of ferrite nanoparticles on the DOX release from chitosan/PLA/NaX/DOX and chitosan/PLA/NaX/Fe3O4/DOX nanofibers have been investigated in the presence of magnetic field and without magnetic field. The antitumor activity of synthesized nanofibers was also investigated on the carcinoma cells death. The maximum killing percentage of H1355 cells was found to be 82% using DOX loaded chitosan/PLA/NaX/ferrite in the presence of external magnetic field after 7 days of treatment.

Hypericin Induces Apoptosis in MDA-MB-175-VII Cells in Lower Dose Compared to MDA-MB-231.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the major cause of death from cancer among women around the world. Given the drug resistance in the treatment of this disease, it is very important to identify new therapies and anticancer drugs. Many studies demonstrated that hypericin could induce apoptosis in different cancer cell lines; however, the underlying mechanism is not well understood yet. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the anticancer effect of hypericin in two breast cancer cell lines, one with wild type P53 and the other with mutant P53. METHODS: In this study, the MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-175-VII cell lines were treated with different concentrations of hypericin for 24 and 48 hours. The measurement of cell death was performed by MTT assay. The cell apoptosis rate was measured using annexin V/propidium iodide assay through flow cytometry. The level of expression in P21 and P53 genes was evaluated by real time PCR. Immunocytochemistry (ICC) analysis was performed for P21 (direct target for P53 protein) to confirm the results. RESULTS: The results showed that hypericin could have dose-dependent cytotoxic effects on the MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-175-VII cell lines, and its cytotoxicity is much higher in the latter cells. According to flow cytometry results, 86% of MDA-MB-175-VII cells underwent apoptosis with IC50 dose of hypericin for MDA-MB-231 cells after 24 hours. Moreover, after 24 hours of exposure to hypericin with MDA- MB-231 IC50 concentration, the expression of P53 and P21 genes upregulated in MDA-MB-175-VII much more than MDA-MB-231 when both cell lines were treated with 24 hours IC50 dose of MDA-MB-231. The ICC analysis on P21 confirmed that by treating both cell lines with MDA-MB-231 IC50 dose of hypericin for 24 hours, this protein is overexpressed much more in MDA-MB-175-VII cells. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that hypericin's apoptotic and cytotoxic effects on cancer cells may be mediated via P53 overexpression, cell cycle arrest and the subsequent apoptosis. Therefore, it is of great importance to consider that hypericin would have better impact on cells or tumors with wild type P53.

Doxorubicin hydrochloride - Loaded electrospun chitosan/cobalt ferrite/titanium oxide nanofibers for hyperthermic tumor cell treatment and controlled drug release.

In the present study, the potential of doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX)-loaded electrospun chitosan/cobalt ferrite/titanium oxide nanofibers was studied to investigate the simultaneous effect of hyperthermia and chemotherapy against melanoma cancer B16F10 cell lines. The cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were synthesized via microwave heating method. The titanium oxide nanoparticles were mixed with cobalt ferrite to control the temperature rise. The synthesized nanoparticles and nanofibers were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) analysis. The DOX loading efficiency and in vitro drug release of DOX from nanofibers were investigated at both physiological and acidic conditions by an alternating of magnetic field and without magnetic field effect. The fastest release of DOX from prepared magnetic nanofibers was observed at acidic pH by alternating of magnetic field. The antitumor activity of synthesized nanofibers was also investigated on the melanoma cancer B16F10 cell lines. The obtained results revealed that the DOX loaded-electrospun chitosan/cobalt ferrite/titanium oxide nanofibers can be used for localized cancer therapy.