Anticarcinogenic Effects of Capsaicin-Loaded Nanoparticles on In Vitro Hepatocellular Carcinoma

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noha M Hazem ◽  
Wagdi F ElKashef ◽  
Ibrahim M El-Sherbiny ◽  
Ahmed A Emam ◽  
Dalia Shaalan ◽  
...  

Background:: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most frequent cancer worldwide with a low overall survival due to high metastasis and recurrence rates. The aim of this study is to assess and compare the possible anti-neoplastic effect of capsaicin and nanoformulated capsaicin on in vitro HCC human cell line HepG2. Materials and Methods:: Capsaicin-loaded trimethyl chitosan nanoparticles (CL TMCS NPs) were synthesized by iontropic gelation of cationic TMCS with capsaicin. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized through TEM, and zeta analyzer. Human hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cell lines were cultured and treated with 50, 75 & 100 μM of capsaicin (CAP), plain TMCS NPs and CL-NPs as well as ethanol (control) for 24h and 48h. The induced effects were investigated by flow cytometry, immunocytochemistry assay for Bcl-2, Bax, and caspase proteins and evaluating gene expression levels of Bcl-2, Bax, and MDR-1 mRNA by real-time PCR. Results:: Our results demonstrated that capsaicin- loaded NPs had the potential to significantly increase capsaicin bioactivity compared with the plain capsaicin formulation either in inducing apoptosis through altering expression of apoptotic regulators or modifying MDR-1 expression. Conclusions:: TMCs nanoparticles investigated in this study may be a good drug delivery vehicle for capsaicin. Application of capsaicin-loaded NPs in HCC management as an adjunct therapeutic approach may be a novel strategy to improve the treatment efficacy and resistance of the conventionally used chemotherapy.

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Afreen Usmani ◽  
Anuradha Mishra ◽  
Asif Jafri ◽  
Md Arshad ◽  
Mohd Aftab Siddiqui

Background: Silver nanoparticles play a significant role in bioavailability and refining the compatibility of natural drugs in the treatment of various chronic diseases including different types of cancer. Objective: Green synthesis of silver nanocomposites of Nigella sativa seeds extract to evaluate the anticancer effects against hepatocellular carcinoma using HepG2 cell lines. Methods: The AgNCs were developed by treating aqueous extract of N. sativa seeds treated with silver nitrate (1mM) solution and were used to test its efficacy against hepatocellular carcinoma using HepG2 cell lines. Results and Discussion: The Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) of prepared AgNCs showed a peak at 432 nm via UV spectroscopy. The selected N. sativa AgNCs were characterized for polydispersity, surface charge and size and the results showed 0.215±0.093 polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential 18.8±0.372 mV and size range 10-20 nm, respectively. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) also showed various peak of functional groups that are possibly involved in the reduction of silver ion and synthesized the N. sativa silver nanocomposites, respectively. N. sativa AgNCs showed 89.954% drug release while in the case of extract release, it was only 33.821% in 24 hrs. Further, in vitro studies of N. sativa AgNCs against hepatocellular carcinoma showed good cytotoxic effect p<0.05 with 7.16 µg/ml IC50 value. Conclusion: Thus, the present results revealed that green synthesis of N. sativa AgNCs can be an alternative tool for clinical application in cancer therapy; however, there is a need to find the mechanism and role of AgNCs inside the individual.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongping Wang ◽  
Qi Zhang ◽  
Fenfen Li ◽  
Chan Wang ◽  
Changming Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Discs large homolog 5 (Dlg5) is a member of the membrane-associated guanylate kinase (MAGUK) adaptor family of proteins and its deregulation has been implicated in the malignancy of several cancer types. Dlg5 was down-regulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and lower Dlg5 expression was associated with poor survival of HCC patients. However, how to regulate Dlg5 remains largely unknown. Methods The co-immunoprecipitation assay was used to determine the interaction between Dlg5 and β-TrCP. The in vivo ubiquitination assay was performed to determine the regulation of Dlg5 by β-TrCP. CCK-8 and colony formation assay were implemented to detect the biological effect of Dlg5 on the growth of HCC cells in vitro. The effect of Dlg5 on HCC tumor growth in vivo was studied in a tumor xenograft model in mice. Results Here we report that Dlg5 is regulated by the ubiquitin proteasome system and depletion of either Cullin 1 or β-TrCP led to increased levels of Dlg5. β-TrCP regulated Dlg5 protein stability by targeting it for ubiquitination and subsequent destruction in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. We further demonstrated a crucial role of Ser730 in the non-canonical phosphodegron of Dlg5 in governing β-TrCP-mediated Dlg5 degradation. Importantly, failure to degrade Dlg5 significantly inhibited HCC cells proliferation both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion Collectively, our finding provides a novel molecular mechanism for the negative regulation of Dlg5 by β-TRCP in HCC cells. It further suggests that preventing Dlg5 degradation could be a possible novel strategy for clinical treatment of HCC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meiling Ren ◽  
Huanji Xu ◽  
Hongwei Xia ◽  
Qiulin Tang ◽  
Feng Bi

AbstractLipid homeostasis plays a fundamental role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the mechanisms that regulate lipid homeostasis to avoid lipotoxicity in HCC remain elusive. Here, we found high-fat diet (HFD) improved the expression of sterol o-acyltransferase1 (SOAT1) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A (CPT1A) in diethylnitrosamine-induced HCC. Bioinformatic analysis showed that SOAT1-mediated fatty acid storage and CPT1A-mediated fatty acids oxidation (FAO) formed a double-negative feedback loop in HCC. We verified that SOAT1 inhibition enhanced CPT1A protein, which shuttled the released fatty acids into the mitochondria for oxidation in vivo and in vitro. Besides, we further confirmed that CPT1A inhibition converted excess fatty acids into lipid drops by SOAT1 in vitro. Simultaneously targeting SOAT1 and CPT1A by the small-molecule inhibitors avasimibe and etomoxir had synergistic anticancer efficacy in HCC in vitro and in vivo. Our study provides new mechanistic insights into the regulation of lipid homeostasis and suggests the combination of avasimibe and etomoxir is a novel strategy for HCC treatment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umme Ruman ◽  
Kalaivani Buskaran ◽  
Saifullah Bullo ◽  
Georgia Pastorin ◽  
Mas Jaffri Masarudin ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose: Here, we reported the sysnthesis of two clinically used drugs, 5-fluorouracil (5FU) and Sorafenib (SF)-loaded in chitosan nanoparticles and their priliminary study of therapeutics effect on hepatocellular carcinoma and colorectal adenocarcinoma cell lines. We have formulated chitosan nanoparticles (CS NPs) loaded dual (SF and 5-FU) drugs nanodelivery system for SF/5FU-CS NPs and their coating version with folic acid (FA) for SF/5FU-CS-FA NPS. Human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) and colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT29) cell lines were selected for in vitro cytotoxicity studies to evaluate the preliminary anticancer efficacy of both nanoparticles.Characterization: The physiochemical characterization of SF/5FU-CS NPs and SF/5FU-CS-FA NPs were investigated by DLS, FESEM, HRTEM, EDX, XRD, TGA, FTIR, and HPLC methods.Results: DLS study has shown the size of SF/5FU-CS and SF/5FU-CS-FA nanoparticles were about 78±14 nm and 142±25 nm, respectively. HRTEM and FESEM studies confirmed the spherical shape with size of 60-70nm for SF/5FU-CS and 90-150 nm for SF/5FU-CS-FA NPs. The XRD results indicated the drug loading and folate-coating comfirmation. FTIR peaks confirmed the presence of drugs in the nanoparticles, as well as folate-coating on the surface of the nanoparticles. TGA results demonstrated the thermostability of both nanoparticles. The release profiles of SF and 5FU from the two designed NPs were found to be in a sustained manner according to the pseudo-second-order kinetics model indicating a good delivery system for tumor cells. The cytotoxicity studies confirmed the better anti-cancer activity of the nanoparticles compared to the free 5-fluorouracil and sorafenib against liver cancer cells, HepG2 and colon cancer cells, HT29. Conversely, both NPs were found not toxic towards normal human dermal fibroblast cells (HDF) cells.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kainan Zhang ◽  
Hui Liu ◽  
Mengsi Yu ◽  
Hui Zhao ◽  
Ning Yang ◽  
...  

The development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a complex pathological process. Long intergenic non–protein-coding RNA 1667 (LINC01667, also known as MGC38584) plays an oncogenic role in several human cancers; however, its functional role in HCC tumorigenesis remains unknown. Here, we first evaluated the gene expression levels of LINC01667 in HCC using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) databases. We then elucidated the association between LINC01667 gene expression levels and the survival rates of patients with HCC. We detected the effect of LINC01667 on the malignant phenotypes (cell proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis etc.) and the MAPK and PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathways of HepG2, SMMC-7721 and HUH7 cells. We also analyzed the sensitivity of HepG2, SMMC-7721 and HUH7 with different expression levels of LINC01667 to anti-HCC drugs in vitro. Based on data from the aforementioned databases and our experiments in vitro, we found that LINC01667 was overexpressed in HCC, and that patients with high LINC01667 levels had a remarkably poor overall survival rate. In addition, inhibition of LINC01667 expression suppressed the proliferation, migration and invasion of HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cells and promoted their apoptosis in vitro. In contrast, overexpression of LINC01667 promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of HUH7 cells and suppressed their apoptosis in vitro. ChIRP-seq (chromatin isolation by RNA purification) showed that LINC01667 bound to MEG3, and downregulated the expression of MEG3. In addition, western blotting showed that LINC01667 could activate the NF-κB pathway to promote cancer progression. In conclusion, we report that LINC01667 is an important oncogene in HCC and may be used as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of HCC.


Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiao-Fang Teng ◽  
Han-Chieh Wu ◽  
Ih-Jen Su ◽  
Long-Bin Jeng

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Despite progress in the prevention and therapy of HCC, high incidence and recurrence rates of HCC remain big threats, resulting in poor patient survival. Effective biomarkers and targets of HCC are therefore urgently needed for better management and to improve patient outcomes. Pre-S mutants have been well demonstrated as HBV oncoproteins that play important roles in HCC development through activation of multiple oncogenic signal pathways in hepatocytes, in vitro and in vivo. The presence of pre-S mutants in patients with chronic HBV infection and HBV-related HCC has been associated with a significantly higher risk of HCC development and recurrence after curative surgical resection, respectively. In this review, we summarize the roles of pre-S mutants as biomarkers for predicting HBV-related HCC development and recurrence, and highlight the pre-S mutants-activated oncogenic signal pathways as potential targets for preventing HBV-related HCC development.


Nanomedicine ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Li ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
Shuai Jiang ◽  
Yang Gao ◽  
Weijie Zhang ◽  
...  

Aim: The dual-ligand glycyrrhetinic acid and galactose-modified chitosan nanoparticles were designed to further improve the targeting capability to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials & methods: The dual-ligand glycyrrhetinic acid and galactose-modified chitosan nanoparticles were fabricated by using ionic gelation method and their characteristics have been measured. Furthermore, the biodistribution and biocompatibility of this targeting vehicle were investigated in vitro and in vivo, respectively. Results: The targeting vehicle was specifically internalized into hepatoma cells in vitro and accumulated into tumor tissue in vivo with high efficacy. Moreover, the vehicle did not induce inflammation reaction and affect morphologies and organ functions. Conclusion: The targeting accumulation in HCC tissue and great biocompatibility of the dual-ligand modified chitosan nanoparticles highlight the potential of delivering anticancer agents into HCC cells.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 871 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youn Kyoung Jeong ◽  
Ju Yeon Oh ◽  
Jae Kuk Yoo ◽  
Sun Ha Lim ◽  
Eun Ho Kim

The tropical basidiomycete fungus Phellinus linteus (Mesima) exhibits anti-tumor, anti-angiogenic, and immunomodulatory properties in various cancers including prostate, colon, and lung cancer along with melanoma by, for example, inducing apoptosis or cell cycle arrest. However, whether medina also facilitates treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the third global cause of cancer deaths, remains unknown. Here, we examined its potential as a radiosensitizer in HCC radiotherapy using human HCC Hep3B and HepG2 cell lines and xenograft tumors. Mesima pretreatment significantly enhanced HCC cell radiosensitivity in vitro and the combination of mesima + radiation treatment significantly reduced xenograft tumor growth and size in vivo compared to those with single treatments. Mechanistically, mesima significantly enhanced radiotherapy efficiency by inhibiting tumor cell survival through inducing apoptosis (assessed via annexin V), impairing cell cycle regulation (shown by flow cytometry), and reducing radiation-induced DNA damage repair (measured via γ-H2AX foci). Combination treatment also facilitated autophagic cell death beyond that from single treatments (assessed by quantifying stained acidic vesicular organelles), and diminished tumor cell metastatic potentials (shown by wound and Transwell assays). These findings support the synergistic anti-tumor effects of mesima combined with radiation and suggest scientific evidence for mesima as a radiosensitizer in HCC.


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