RESUMO
Curcumin has received immense attention over the past decades because of its diverse biological activities and recognized as a promising drug candidate in a large number of diseases. However, its clinical application has been hindered due to extremely low aqueous solubility, chemical stability, and cellular uptake. In this study, we discovered quite a new function of curcumin, i.e. pH-responsive endosomal disrupting activity, derived from curcumin's self-assembly. We selected anticancer activity as an example of biological activities of curcumin, and investigated the contribution of pH-responsive property to its anticancer activity. As a result, we demonstrated that the pH-responsive property significantly enhances the anticancer activity of curcumin. Furthermore, we demonstrated a utility of the pH-responsive property of curcumin as delivery nanocarriers for doxorubicin toward combination cancer therapy. These results clearly indicate that the smart curcumin assemblies act as promising nanoplatform for development of curcumin-based therapeutics.
Assuntos
Antineoplásicos/farmacologia , Curcumina/farmacologia , Neoplasias da Próstata/tratamento farmacológico , Animais , Apoptose/efeitos dos fármacos , Proliferação de Células/efeitos dos fármacos , Portadores de Fármacos/química , Humanos , Masculino , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos BALB C , Camundongos Nus , Nanopartículas/administração & dosagem , Nanopartículas/química , Neoplasias da Próstata/enzimologia , Neoplasias da Próstata/patologia , Células Tumorais Cultivadas , Ensaios Antitumorais Modelo de XenoenxertoRESUMO
Plant hormones are transported across cell membranes during various physiological events. Recent identification of abscisic acid and strigolactone transporters suggests that transport of various plant hormones across membranes does not occur by simple diffusion but requires transporter proteins that are strictly regulated during development. Here, we report that a major glucosinolate transporter, GTR1/NPF2.10, is multifunctional and may be involved in hormone transport in Arabidopsis thaliana. When heterologously expressed in oocytes, GTR1 transports jasmonoyl-isoleucine and gibberellin in addition to glucosinolates. gtr1 mutants are severely impaired in filament elongation and anther dehiscence resulting in reduced fertility, but these phenotypes can be rescued by gibberellin treatment. These results suggest that GTR1 may be a multifunctional transporter for the structurally distinct compounds glucosinolates, jasmonoyl-isoleucine and gibberellin, and may positively regulate stamen development by mediating gibberellin supply.
