Synthesis and analysis of silver–copper alloy nanoparticles of different ratios manifest anticancer activity in breast cancer cells

Abstract Background Breast cancer is therapeutically very challenging to treat as it has the main four known genetic alterations, which result in the existence of several phenotypes leading to the difference in the mode of therapy and with poor outcome. Metallic nanoparticles of silver or copper have been studied previously as anticancer agents in breast cancer and other types of cancers. However, the anticancer effect of silver–copper alloy nanoparticles (AgCu-NP) is not studied in breast cancer. In this study, we aim to synthesize silver nanoparticles (Ag-NP), or copper nanoparticles (Cu-NP), and AgCu-NP and evaluate their toxicity in breast cancer and healthy breast cells. Results We synthesized sodium citrate and mercapto-propionic acid (MPA-3) capped water-soluble metallic nanoparticles of Ag-NP or Cu-NP and an alloy of three different combinations of AgCu-NP. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy characterization of nanoparticles revealed the spherical shape nanoparticles of varied sizes, furthermore dynamic light scattering characterization was performed, which investigated the hydrodynamic size and stability in phosphate buffer solution. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) measurements were obtained from the transmission electron microscope to study the composition of alloy nanoparticles and the distribution pattern of silver and copper in the alloy nanoparticles. We measured the toxicity of nanoparticles to breast cancer MCF-7 cell line by MTT assay and compared the toxic effect with non-cancerous breast epithelial cells MCF-10A. Our data showed that Ag-NP or Cu-NP have no effect on cancer cells or healthy cells, except Ag-NP at 20 µg/ml were toxic to cancer cells. However, AgCu-NP were significantly toxic to MCF-7 cells at 10 µg/ml concentration, while as AgCu-NP have no toxic effect on healthy cells. Furthermore, we observed the cell death pathway by the apoptosis marker Annexin-V which showed non-significant results, while the exposure of AgCu-NP in MCF-7 cells leads to toxicity and also caused significant increase in MMP-9 level, which suggests the cell death may be associated with other pathways such as autophagy and oxidative stress related. Conclusion The data suggest that the AgCu-NP alloy imposes preferential toxicity in breast cancer MCF-7 cells and thus could be exploited as a new candidate for further anticancer investigation

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Differential Mechanisms of Cell Death Induced by HDAC Inhibitor SAHA and MDM2 Inhibitor RG7388 in MCF-7 Cells

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells8010008 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 8 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Umamaheswari Natarajan ◽

Thiagarajan Venkatesan ◽

Vijayaraghavan Radhakrishnan ◽

Shila Samuel ◽

Appu Rathinavelu

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cell Cycle ◽

Cell Death ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Hdac Inhibitor ◽

The Other ◽

Combination Treatments ◽

Cycle Arrest ◽

Anti Cancer ◽

Mcf 7

Gene expression is often altered by epigenetic modifications that can significantly influence the growth ability and progression of cancers. SAHA (Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid, also known as Vorinostat), a well-known Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, can stop cancer growth and metastatic processes through epigenetic alterations. On the other hand, Letrozole is an aromatase inhibitor that can elicit strong anti-cancer effects on breast cancer through direct and indirect mechanisms. A newly developed inhibitor, RG7388 specific for an oncogene-derived protein called MDM2, is in clinical trials for the treatment of various cancers. In this paper, we performed assays to measure the effects of cell cycle arrest resulting from individual drug treatments or combination treatments with SAHA + letrozole and SAHA + RG7388, using the MCF-7 breast cancer cells. When SAHA was used individually, or in combination treatments with RG7388, a significant increase in the cytotoxic effect was obtained. Induction of cell cycle arrest by SAHA in cancer cells was evidenced by elevated p21 protein levels. In addition, SAHA treatment in MCF-7 cells showed significant up-regulation in phospho-RIP3 and MLKL levels. Our results confirmed that cell death caused by SAHA treatment was primarily through the induction of necroptosis. On the other hand, the RG7388 treatment was able to induce apoptosis by elevating BAX levels. It appears that, during combination treatments, with SAHA and RG7388, two parallel pathways might be induced simultaneously, that could lead to increased cancer cell death. SAHA appears to induce cell necroptosis in a p21-dependent manner, and RG7388 seems to induce apoptosis in a p21-independent manner, outlining differential mechanisms of cell death induction. However, further studies are needed to fully understand the intracellular mechanisms that are triggered by these two anti-cancer agents.

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Doxorubicin resistance mediated by cytoplasmic macrophage colony-stimulating factor is associated with switch from apoptosis to autophagic cell death in MCF-7 breast cancer cells

Experimental Biology and Medicine ◽

10.1177/1535370216660399 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 241 (18) ◽

pp. 2086-2093 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Mengxia Zhang ◽

Hailiang Zhang ◽

Fan Tang ◽

Yuhua Wang ◽

Zhongcheng Mo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cell Death ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Breast Cancer Cells ◽

Colony Stimulating Factor ◽

Doxorubicin Resistance ◽

Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor ◽

Macrophage Colony ◽

Stimulating Factor ◽

Mcf 7

Macrophage colony-stimulating factor is a vital factor in maintaining the biological function of monocyte–macrophage lineage. It is expressed in many tumor tissues and cancer cells. Recent findings indicate that macrophage colony-stimulating factor might contribute to chemoresistance, but the precise mechanisms are unclear. This study was to explore the effect of macrophage colony-stimulating factor on doxorubicin resistance in MCF-7 breast cancer cells and the possible mechanism. In the study, the human breast cancer cells, MCF-7, were transfected with macrophage colony-stimulating factor. We document that cytoplasmic macrophage colony-stimulating factor induces doxorubicin resistance and inhibits apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. Further studies demonstrated that cytoplasmic macrophage colony-stimulating factor-mediated apoptosis inhibition was dependent on the activation of PI3K/Akt/Survivin pathway. More importantly, we found that macrophage colony-stimulating factor-induced autophagic cell death in doxorubicin-treated MCF-7 cells. Taken together, we show for the first time that macrophage colony-stimulating factor-induced doxorubicin resistance is associated with the changes in cell death response with defective apoptosis and promotion of autophagic cell death.

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Methotrexate induced cell death mechanisms in MCF-7 adenocarcinoma breast cancer cells: Enhanced cytotoxicity following dff45-siRNA pre-treatment

Synergy ◽

10.1016/j.synres.2018.08.002 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 10-16

Author(s):

Fatemeh Kiani ◽

Negin Rasouli ◽

Tahereh Kashkoolinejad ◽

Shahrokh Safarian ◽

Seyed Jalal Zargar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cell Death ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Breast Cancer Cells ◽

Pre Treatment ◽

Cell Death Mechanisms ◽

Mcf 7

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HDAC3–ERα Selectively Regulates TNF-α-Induced Apoptotic Cell Death in MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer Cells via the p53 Signaling Pathway

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells9051280 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 1280

Author(s):

Seung-Ho Park ◽

Hyunhee Kim ◽

Sungmin Kwak ◽

Ji-Hoon Jeong ◽

Jangho Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cell Death ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Human Breast Cancer ◽

Breast Cancer Cells ◽

Apoptotic Cell ◽

Human Breast Cancer Cells ◽

Human Breast ◽

Tnf Α ◽

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Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) plays a significant role in inflammation and cancer-related apoptosis. We identified a TNF-α-mediated epigenetic mechanism of apoptotic cell death regulation in estrogen receptor-α (ERα)-positive human breast cancer cells. To assess the apoptotic effect of TNF-α, annexin V/ propidium iodide (PI) double staining, cell viability assays, and Western blotting were performed. To elucidate this mechanism, histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity assay and immunoprecipitation (IP) were conducted; the mechanism was subsequently confirmed through chromatin IP (ChIP) assays. Finally, we assessed HDAC3–ERα-mediated apoptotic cell death after TNF-α treatment in ERα-positive human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells via the transcriptional activation of p53 target genes using luciferase assay and quantitative reverse transcription PCR. The TNF-α-induced selective apoptosis in MCF-7 cells was negatively regulated by the HDAC3–ERα complex in a caspase-7-dependent manner. HDAC3 possessed a p53-binding element, thus suppressing the transcriptional activity of its target genes. In contrast, MCF-7 cell treatment with TNF-α led to dissociation of the HDAC3–ERα complex and substitution of the occupancy on the promoter by the p53–p300 complex, thus accelerating p53 target gene expression. In this process, p53 stabilization was accompanied by its acetylation. This study showed that p53-mediated apoptosis in ERα-positive human breast cancer cells was negatively regulated by HDAC3–ERα in a caspase-7-dependent manner. Therefore, these proteins have potential application in therapeutic strategies.

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Polyamines modulate the roscovitine-induced cell death switch decision autophagy vs. apoptosis in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells

Molecular Medicine Reports ◽

10.3892/mmr.2015.3303 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 4532-4540 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

ELIF DAMLA ARISAN ◽

YUNUS AKKOÇ ◽

KAAN GENCER AKYÜZ ◽

EZGI MELEK KERMAN ◽

PINAR OBAKAN ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cell Death ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Breast Cancer Cells ◽

Mcf 7

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Thymoquinone Enhances Paclitaxel Anti-Breast Cancer Activity via Inhibiting Tumor-Associated Stem Cells Despite Apparent Mathematical Antagonism

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules25020426 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

pp. 426 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Hanan A. Bashmail ◽

Aliaa A. Alamoudi ◽

Abdulwahab Noorwali ◽

Gehan A. Hegazy ◽

Ghada M. Ajabnoor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Stem Cells ◽

Cell Death ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Breast Cancer Cells ◽

Cell Clone ◽

T47d Cells ◽

Ic50 Values ◽

Twist 1 ◽

Mcf 7

Thymoquinone (TQ) has shown substantial evidence for its anticancer effects. Using human breast cancer cells, we evaluated the chemomodulatory effect of TQ on paclitaxel (PTX). TQ showed weak cytotoxic properties against MCF-7 and T47D breast cancer cells with IC50 values of 64.93 ± 14 µM and 165 ± 2 µM, respectively. Combining TQ with PTX showed apparent antagonism, increasing the IC50 values of PTX from 0.2 ± 0.07 µM to 0.7 ± 0.01 µM and from 0.1 ± 0.01 µM to 0.15 ± 0.02 µM in MCF-7 and T47D cells, respectively. Combination index analysis showed antagonism in both cell lines with CI values of 4.6 and 1.6, respectively. However, resistance fractions to PTX within MCF-7 and T47D cells (42.3 ± 1.4% and 41.9 ± 1.1%, respectively) were completely depleted by combination with TQ. TQ minimally affected the cell cycle, with moderate accumulation of cells in the S-phase. However, a significant increase in Pre-G phase cells was observed due to PTX alone and PTX combination with TQ. To dissect this increase in the Pre-G phase, apoptosis, necrosis, and autophagy were assessed by flowcytometry. TQ significantly increased the percent of apoptotic/necrotic cell death in T47D cells after combination with paclitaxel. On the other hand, TQ significantly induced autophagy in MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, TQ was found to significantly decrease breast cancer-associated stem cell clone (CD44+/CD24-cell) in both MCF-7 and T47D cells. This was mirrored by the downregulation of TWIST-1 gene and overexpression of SNAIL-1 and SNAIL-2 genes. TQ therefore possesses potential chemomodulatory effects to PTX when studied in breast cancer cells via enhancing PTX induced cell death including autophagy. In addition, TQ depletes breast cancer-associated stem cells and sensitizes breast cancer cells to PTX killing effects.

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